Roadmap to Plan and Deploy Transportation Infrastructure Projects Using Public-Private Partnerships

Traditionally, in many developing countries, the provision of infrastructure facilities as “public goods” has been the responsibility of the public sector and the government. With rapidly changing economic conditions, communication methods, increased economic pressure, and competition for investment opportunities, the “government owned” notion is facing challenges and undergoing changes. In many countries infrastructure investment needs cannot be financed by the public sector alone. To meet these needs, governments are attempting to encourage private sector involvement in investment in infrastructure projects as an additional option they cannot afford to ignore. Private sector can play a vital and efficient role in accelerating and providing the needed infrastructure system that is essential in facilitating the communication and movement of people and goods while minimizing impacts on sustainable development. Public Private Partnerships (PPP) involvement in infrastructure development has gone through several evolutions. There are several attempts and a few good examples that describe such collaborations. However, they differ widely in their physical, political, financial, and technical conditions. There is limited discussion and documentation on the subject of PPP involvement as a collaboration model in transportation infrastructure and technology. To date, not a single set of rules to be followed exists that would make successful implementation likely. This paper argues that a systematic approach could be adopted by the public sector to engage the private sector in forming a collaborative PPP model. This paper’s scope is to document, analyze and provide lessons learned and guiding principles and to present a roadmap of how to establish partnerships between public (government) and private sectors. It documents partnering challenges and opportunities and how to encourage cooperation and private sector initiatives. Also, to provide an overview of current policies, processes and challenges to private sector involvement in public transportation infrastructure and intelligent transportation systems (ITS) technology projects. The paper focuses on how to provide strategies and a systematic approach that allows the government to engage the private sector in forming PPPs and to work together on transportation infrastructure projects (roads, bridges, and technology deployment). Given limited resources, PPPs can be an effective tool to provide transportation infrastructure to development locations. The paper is evaluating several case studies of urban and rural regions in Northern California, Northwestern Nevada and Southern Oregon, applicable experiences, and suggested solutions that could be transferred and adopted successfully in other countries and settings. Finally, a roadmap will be presented for private sector engagement suggesting how to use the PPP collaboration model.