All of the project sponsors interviewed for this report acknowledged significant public benefits associated with the application of a PPP. These benefits include advancing the availability of a new transit service, increased system accessibility, improved ridership, minimized inconvenience during construction, as well as economic, environmental, and other benefits to the general public.
Since the recent completion of Denver's Southeast Corridor LRT and the highway portion of the T-REX project, RTD and CDOT have received many compliments on the agency's approach to construction as well as the final product. The contractor used lane shifts to avoid taking an excessive number of lanes out of service during construction, which minimized inconvenience to the motoring public. According to one sponsor, the project was completed faster (22 months earlier) and better than otherwise would have been the case without design-build.
Tri-Rail ridership is over 30 percent higher and its trains have a higher on-time rate as a result of the South Florida Commuter Rail Upgrades project. The service used to be viewed as the railroad that was always late and went nowhere, and now it is viewed as a success story in the community, and people are happy with the service. Its success has spin-off benefits for agencies elsewhere in Florida because it sets it a good example for others who are considering commuter rail.
The Hiawatha Corridor LRT project opened to revenue service a year early versus a design-bid-build approach. In its first year the project served 7.9 million passengers, who would not have benefited from the service if the project had required a fifth year of construction.
Hudson-Bergen Light Rail passengers benefited from the completion of the project years ahead of schedule, made possible with a DBOM approach. The project has improved mobility and connectivity in northern New Jersey and has spurred significant economic development in the communities served by the line.
WMATA found during the environmental process for the Largo Metrorail Extension that there was mixed community support for the project. Therefore, one of the goals of the solicitation was for the DB contractor to create an effective community outreach program. Proposers offered a variety of approaches to improving community outreach, including providing jobs and contracting opportunities within the community, briefings with local homeowners, businesses, and community organizations on a regular basis, and creating a community information office. According to one WMATA official, contractors, given a problem, came up with great solutions that facilitated the project.
BART's planned Oakland Airport Connector project will operate on an exclusive guideway, so the project will deliver increased capacity and extreme reliability. The project will provide a much higher grade of service between BART and the airport than the current bus service, which is at capacity. The project is also expected to enhance ridership on the BART core system by drawing more Oakland airport passengers to BART. The project could also allow for further growth of the airport itself. The airport is presently physically constrained by its location, which limits the airport's parking capacity. The connector will provide a cost-effective alternative to access the airport. This project would not be possible without using a PPP structure because, due to the economic climate, a significant amount of anticipated state funding for the project would not likely have been made available for several years. Using a PPP, this project is moving forward with revenue service scheduled to begin as early as 2011.