The race towards passing a surface transportation reauthorization bill before the end of the fiscal year is seeing the Senate running behind the House as the notion of allowing more private investment gains steam.
"Over half of Americans believe that their country is not doing enough to meet current needs, there is growing support across the board for a collaborative public and private sector approach to building and maintaining vital infrastructure."
The analysis comes from the Global Infrastructure Investor Association after crunching numbers from the Global Infrastructure Index, a survey conducted by Ipsos in partnership with the GIIA.
Ipsos is multinational marketing research firm based in Paris.
"Over 60% of respondents backed companies investing in U.S. infrastructure – either entirely privately or through collaborative public-private partnerships if it meant the project was delivered on time," said GIIA.
The findings roll out as reauthorizing a surface transportation bill, which would determine how much public funding will be deployed remains stalled in a Senate that is on recess until July 27.
Tapping P3s to build express lanes, bridges, and port facilities frequently rely on issuing private activity bonds with the resulting debt serviced by tolls and user fees.
The system is widely used in countries that lack access to tax exempt municipal bonds. Private investment proponents see the U.S. as a land of great opportunity.
"America remains the biggest global infrastructure investment market, with the opportunity to unlock trillions in private capital," said Jon Phillips, CEO of GIIA.
"As demands on existing infrastructure grow, and public budgets are increasingly strained, understandably so does public dissatisfaction with the current state of affairs."
According to the index, the top five infrastructure interests in the U.S. in order of popularity include water supply and sewerage, local roads, solar energy infrastructure, major roads and pedestrian pathways.
Researchers with The Reason Foundation pinpoints most of the current
In
The plan includes the possibility of adding express lanes on the Maryland side of I-495.
"P3s have a strong track record of building more efficient, cost-effective and resilient infrastructure in many states already," said Phillips.
"Not only are they the most efficient way to build better infrastructure, but now they are the most popular in the eyes of the American people. It is no longer a question of whether America needs private investment, but how much."
Expanding the use of P3 in the U.S. contends with a checkered past and sometimes problematic present.
Maryland's
In 2008, Chicago mayor Richard Daly leased the city's parking meters to a group of investors led by Morgan Stanley for $1.15 billion. Hindsight showed the deal to be a financial disaster for the city even after
In 2006, Indiana leased a 157-mile toll road to a private consortium for $3.8 billion but traffic and revenue projections didn't pan out.
The private operator eventually filed for bankruptcy The operation was eventually resold and attracted new investors in
