How PPPs can improve funding of transport infrastructure

The “Better Regulation of Public-Private Partnerships for Transport Infrastructure” report just released by the International Transport Forum at the OECD looks at public-private partnerships (PPPs), which have become an important tool for governments to attract private finance for infrastructure investments. In the face of tight budgets, PPPs are seen as a means to maintain transport investment and limit public spending at the same time.
October 15, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
The “Better Regulation of Public-Private Partnerships for Transport Infrastructure” report just released by the 998 International Transport Forum at the 7353 OECD looks at public-private partnerships (PPPs), which have become an important tool for governments to attract private finance for infrastructure investments. In the face of tight budgets, PPPs are seen as a means to maintain transport investment and limit public spending at the same time.

Experience with PPPs has been mixed, however. Some transport PPP projects have delivered major cost savings, many others have exceeded their budgets. PPPs are prone to overestimating revenues from the investment, and the associated risks often fall on the taxpayer when projects run into financial difficulty.

The report examines the nature of risks and uncertainties associated with different PPP types and looks at the practical consequences of transferring risks to private partners.  It assesses the fiscal impact of PPPs and discusses budget procedures and accounting rules and reviews the relative merits of tolls, availability payments and regulated asset base models.

Related Content

  • January 25, 2012
    Sharing resources, reducing traffic management costs
    Telematics Technology’s Peter Billington, Chair of the UTMC ANPR Working Group, on how common protocols can enhance local agency cooperation and significantly reduce costs
    Read More
  • January 23, 2012
    Open-source journey planning - the way forward?
    Peter Bell, managing director of journey planning provider Trapeze Group, ponders the business models which will underpin future travel information services from a UK perspective Traditionally, journey planning websites for public transport in the UK (for example, Transport Direct, the Traveline regions or National Rail Enquiries) have been provided by the transport operators keen to increase ridership and revenues, or by public bodies who hope to encourage a modal switch to public transport by making it e
    Read More
  • August 11, 2021
    MaaS: 'It's been much easier to convince politicians than we expected'
    As she leaves the Mobility as a Service sector, Piia Karjalainen explains why the user must continue to be the focus – and why we haven’t yet even seen half of the innovations available 
    Read More
  • June 5, 2015
    Mega trends will challenge transport technology
    Jon Masters investigates some of the longer term trends that will shape transportation over the next 20 years. Business analysts and investors have already placed their bets on a future of technological smart mobility services. In December last year, the Wall Street Journal reported that Uber, the on-demand taxi and lift share smartphone app and start-up business, had been valued at $41.2 billion which, as the Journal reported, is an incredible vote of confidence for a company only five years old.
    Read More

Highlighted Content