Archives

Modal Angst on the D.C. Beltway

The U.S. Department of Transportation pushed a number of new P3 initiatives forward in April. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, in a quarterly meeting with the USDOT Advisory Board, threw his support behind the idea of a “P3 task force,” or a new P3 office within the Department to help shepherd projects through planning and procurement. […]

Groundbreaking for SR‐400 in Atlanta

The largest public-private partnership (P3) in U.S. history finally broke ground in April. On April 22, the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) held a groundbreaking for the SR-400 Express Lanes project, which will develop barrier-separated express lanes along SR-400 north of Atlanta. The project promises to transform regional mobility in one of the most congested […]

Calcasieu River Bridge Replacement Starts Major Construction

The long-awaited Calcasieu Bridge Replacement Project held a ceremonial groundbreaking in April. Now Louisiana’s Department of Transportation & Development (DOTD) and its concessionaire for the public-private partnership (P3) will finally commence major construction on a bridge replacement that has been a generation in the making. The project has years of construction ahead, but just getting […]

Brightline West Gets Investment Deadline Extension, East Raises Liquidity Warning

Brightline West, the private company building and aiming to complete financing for a high-speed rail line between Los Angeles and Las Vegas, secured a key extension from bondholders to give it more time to raise an additional equity investment in the project. Yet the firm’s sister company, Brightline Florida, which operates a high-speed rail network […]

Why Value‐for‐Money is Still a One‐Sided Burden

It has been a long time coming, but American public sponsors finally have official guidance on completing Value-for-Money (VfM) analysis. VfM as a concept long predates the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) in federal law, but the IIJA made significant changes, culminating in last month’s final VfM guidance from the Build America Bureau (BAB). […]

Express Lane Series #2: Key Planning Considerations for Agencies Developing Express Lane P3s

Priced managed lanes (PMLs) are increasingly delivered through public-private partnerships, and the commercial, planning, and long-term decisions needed to deliver them well are the subject of this three-part series. Our first paper examined the commercial decisions at the heart of every PML P3: toll policy, discount structures, and toll services agreements. We argued that good […]

After Botched Procurement, MassDOT Taking Second Pass at Service Plaza P3

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is taking another pass at a procurement to redevelop 18 service plazas on highways across the state, but is making several changes to their procurement approach and re-starting a state P3 Commission for additional oversight. The procurement, which was initiated in March, will be the state’s second attempt at […]

Potrero Bus Yard Project Approved in San Francisco

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) Board finally approved the project agreement legislation for the Potrero Bus Yard Modernization Project in March. The project agreement approval was quickly followed by approval by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors in late March and a $742 million tax-exempt bond financing in early April. The bond issuance, […]

I‐77 South Express Lanes Gets Shortlist, Then Opposition

The I-77 South Express Lanes project passed a few important planning and procurement milestones in February. The North Carolina Department of Transportation (NCDOT) announced a shortlist of four bid teams for the procurement, though a final RFP is now not expected until this summer. NCDOT also selected an initial design configuration for the project. On […]

Gordie Howe Bridge Nearing Finish Line, Gets Trump Card

After literally decades of political battles during planning, and more than seven years of construction, the Gordie Howe Bridge project in Michigan is finally nearing completion. Major construction is complete, and testing and commissioning began in earnest in February. While an opening date is not yet set, it is anticipated to open to traffic very, […]