Public-private partnership

A strong project pipeline has P3 advocates hopeful for the future, despite some lackluster recent numbers.

High speed passenger rail line leveraging $3 billion in DOT grants

The ASCE in a report analyzing future infrastructure needs says it will take a mix of public and private funds to narrow the funding gap.

Even as Florida advances a pair of bills expanding the state's already broad public-private partnership authority, the P3 message from the state's debt office appears less than enthusiastic.

The Build America Bureau has $100 million in grants available over the next five years for public entities doing pre-development work to structure public private partnerships for transportation and transit-oriented development projects. 

Inflows returned to muni mutual funds as investors added $200.3 million for the week ending Wednesday after $1.474 billion of outflows, according to LSEG Lipper.

A combination of a "stronger-than-expected economy, higher Treasury rates, robust supply, and rich valuations resulting in choppy markets" have made the trading environment in H124 "quite difficult," according to Barclays.

It's a time of change, challenge and opportunity in the infrastructure and P3 space, Patrick Harder said.

States are increasingly turning to public-private partnerships with developers to create new workforce housing so residents can afford to live where they work.

The most recent open solicitation period, last October, yielded three proposals.

Gary Hall, President of the Infrastructure & Public Finance Division at Siebert Williams Shank & Co., joins Bond Buyer Executive Editor Lynne Funk to talk about the importance of the muni industry in financing the country's extensive infrastructure needs -- from ports and airports to bridges and energy solutions.

Utah's Seven County Infrastructure Coalition has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to review an appeals court ruling that led to the loss of federal permits for a proposed bond-financed railway that would transport crude oil.

The state's transportation commission took action to end a comprehensive development agreement for a partially bond-financed toll lane project on State Highway 288.

Fitch Ratings analysts, who downgraded the bonds to junk in January, said they continue to monitor progress on the airport's automated guided rail system.

The bill allows local governments to bypass public bidding and notice requirements in current P3 law.

The National Football League's Chicago Bears are pursuing plans to build a publicly owned domed stadium in Chicago, boosted by $2 billion of private funds. 

The state has tapped JP Morgan and Wells Fargo as managers of the deal.

"This bill is aimed at providing more economic opportunity for our cash-strapped airports," said bill sponsor Rep. Chip Brown before the House passed it 98-2.

Robert Poole, a leading expert in the U.S. public-private partnership transportation sector, joins infrastructure reporter Caitlin Devitt to talk about upcoming deals including toll lanes and bridges in the Southeast and high speed rail in the West as well as states that are advancing P3s and action on the federal front. (37 minutes)

Louisiana, Georgia, Tennessee and Illinois have transportation P3s on tap, and the Army Corps of Engineers is advancing its first four P3 programs.