The future of infrastructure funding is drawing in more money from the private sector, including projects that rely on a combination of user fees and revenue bonds.
"The continuing growth of infrastructure as an asset class is enabling ever more private investment," said Jon Phillips, chief executive of the Global Infrastructure Investor Association.
"That in turn is helping governments close the funding gaps between what they can afford and what their citizens need."
The comments came as part of the release of new
The group supplying the numbers includes 85 investors and 2,855 assets that spans 68 countries.
The largest number of GIIA investor members' assets are in mainland Europe with 865, the U.K. has 802 and U.S. has 523.
Despite its third place showing in assets the U.S. accounts for the highest in total value with $511 billion. Europe has $485 billion while the U.K. has $341 billion.
Improving infrastructure in the U.S. typically relies on a combination of tapping trust funds and federal grants that often requires local matching funds raised through bond sales.
The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law pumped $1.2 trillion into building or repairing the country's roads, bridges, ports, rail, and airports, but those funds expire with the end of the fiscal year in September.
Congress is also wrestling with a surface transportation reauthorization that may be crippled by a shortage of PABs.
"The surface transportation reauthorization bill will need to increase or eliminate the $30 billion cap on tax-exempt Private Activity Bonds, since nearly all of that has been allocated by December 2025," said Bob Poole, director of transportation policy the Reason Foundation.
"The Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act will likely also be expanded in capacity, due to ongoing P3 demand growth."
According to the American Society of Civil Engineers, the U.S. faces a $3.7 trillion infrastructure investment gap over the next decade representing the difference between needed investments to achieve "good repair" and anticipated funding levels.
A recent
Funding what appears to be insurmountable infrastructure needs has municipalities and investors leaning into a wide variety of P3 funding models.
The deals offer several options for who pays for designing, building, financing, operating and maintaining infrastructure assets.
Municipal entities are looking to get projects built on time and on budget with a minimum of risk.
"In large public-private partnership megaprojects, construction cost overruns are generally borne by the private partner rather than taxpayers," said Poole.
"The private partner is contractually bound to performance measures over the life of the long-term agreement, which could be 50 to 75 years."
The Reason Foundation is a libertarian think tank. Discussions about P3s are sometimes lumped in with concerns about privatizing public infrastructure but
