Project Finance Copying and distributing are prohibited without permission of the publisher

Moving US PPP forward

24 September 2009

Setbacks have roughly kept pace with advances in the development of the US PPP market. States' need for new infrastructure funding may leave the failures far behind. By Robert Gibbons, partner, and Michael McGuigan, associate, Debevoise & Plimpton LLP

The public private partnership (PPP) concept has only recently found its way to the spotlight of the national media in the US, particularly as a result of the highly-publicised, competitive tender for the long-term concession and lease of the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Although the Pennsylvania legislature's failure to approve the transaction at a bid of $12.8 billion was a notable setback to proponents of US PPPs, the publicity has called attention to the significant potential benefits of PPPs at a time when public officials at all levels of government are grappling with meeting their massive and growing transportation infrastructure needs in the most challenging economic environment since the Great Depression. This article considers the prospects for continued progress of the PPP movement in the US transportation sector in the context of the defining events of the past two decades and the legal, economic and political environment of today.

Historical perspective


Upcoming Events

Change font size: Switch to default font size Switch to medium font size Switch to large font size