How to Make P3s Successful, a Handbook

A resource with real-world examples is designed to help governments that want to pursue public-private partnerships, P3s, for transportation projects.

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While the U.S. Department of Transportation is giving millions in 2016 grants under the FAST Act and other programs, DOT expects the Federal funding will not be enough. The American Society of Civil Engineers predicts a $1 trillion funding gap for transportation, according to the Build America Transportation Investment Center (BATIC). Thus, the federal government is looking to public-private partnerships (P3s) at all levels to address critical transportation infrastructure needs.

In March, BATIC, part of the National Surface Transportation and Innovative Finance Bureau, released a report to help government agencies work with the private sector on transportation projects. With real world examples, Successful Practices for P3s describes how state and local governments have successfully addressed critical P3 issues, chiefly legislation, policy, project identification, public outreach, procurement and oversight.

This new handbook features examples like the Texas’ P3 enabling legislation, creation of Virginia’s P3 unit under the Secretary of Transportation, cultivation of the Los Angeles Country Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s Strategic P3 program, the Ohio Department of Transportation’s P3 department coordination of district technical expertise and the Colorado Department of Transportation’s use of value for money analysis.

Resource Summary:

  • Chapter 1: introduction and overview of the P3s experience
  • Chapter 2: legislation and policy topics on the enabling and creating P3s units, including negotiating contract terms, stakeholder involvement and cross department coordination
  • Chapter 3: project development including proposals, documentation, project evaluation, assessment of retained public liabilities and outreach
  • Chapter 4: procurement including competitive bid process and negotiations
  • Chapter 5: monitoring and oversight of P3 performance, including incentives and relationships
  • Chapter 6: themes that are present throughout the P3 lifecycle

Download the full report from Transportation.gov.

To learn more about P3s or innovative project finance approaches, contact the BATIC team at buildamerica@dot.gov.

Andrea Fox is Editor of Gov1.com and Senior Editor at Lexipol. She is based in Massachusetts.

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