Jump to content


Photo

How to bring more private sector dollars to . . . subways, and rails


  • Please log in to reply
No replies to this topic

#1 CNJRoss

CNJRoss

    Administrator

  • Admin
  • PipPip
  • 43390 posts
  • Gender:Male
  • Location:Fairfax, VA

Posted 25 March 2015 - 11:45 AM

USDOT "Fast Lane" Blog 3/25:

 

Taking Private-Sector Investment to the Streets

Posted by Anthony Foxx

 

Yesterday, I moderated a panel discussion of business leaders and policy wonks, including my friend, Governor Hickenlooper of Colorado.

 

The venue? The Department of Commerce’s SelectUSA Conference.

 

The topic of discussion? How to bring more private sector dollars to America’s streets – and also bridges, waterways, airports, subways, and rails.

 

Fastlane readers know that our transportation system is screaming for more investment. The United States is on track to underinvest in transportation by about one trillion dollars by the end of the decade, and this is happening at a time when demand for transportation is increasing. America will be home to 70 million more people by 2045, and we will have to move 45 percent more freight.

 

Federal funding is absolutely crucial in meeting this need. There is simply no substitute for that, and we at DOT have been hard at work developing a new and improved GROW AMERICA Act that will let our transportation system grow along with our country.

 

But we also know that the private sector – including investors from around the world – have a role to play too.

 

Private sector investment – an in particular, public-private partnerships – can be a game-changer in making once unfathomable projects a reality. They have literally redrawn the map in many country, including here in the United States. Governor Hickenlooper told us about the partnership that led to the revitalization of Denver Union Station, which opened last year and has been a huge boon to the community.

 

Establishing these public-private partnerships, however,  is sometimes a challenge. I was a mayor not too long ago. So I know that there may be a blueprint for how to physically building a bridge or a transit system, but there is not a blueprint for building the invisible infrastructure that makes our actual infrastructure possible – the financing, the permitting, the regulations.

 

This is why, last summer, the administration stood up Build America Transportation Investment Center, a one-stop-shop for infrastructure financing. Everyone from state and local governments – to private developers and, importantly, international investors – will be able to contact us to find out what financing models might best work for them and which programs we offer at USDOT that may suit their needs.

 

At USDOT, we know that the only way we can solve our nation’s infrastructure challenges is if we help others join in the effort to do so.

 






0 user(s) are reading this topic

0 members, 0 guests, 0 anonymous users