Based on the findings of this report, the following observations are made regarding the various forms of PPPs for delivering transit fixed guideway projects and operations and the potential benefits and risks for implementing successful transit PPPs.
• Some State and local transit agencies contemplating the use of PPPs to deliver capital projects may need additional procurement and contracting authority for project delivery, finance, and operations.
• To foster the leveraging of private capital in public transportation infrastructure, states need statutes that grant transit agencies the necessary flexibility to contract out for operation and maintenance services. Only by allowing private partners to participate in transportation facilities on a long-term basis can the transit agencies truly have a private sector partner.
• Public sponsors of transit capital projects should consider a variety of ways to involve private sector firms and their resources to expedite needed projects that do not have full funding grant agreements, selecting those approaches which offer the greatest potential for value capture and risk management by both private and public project partners.
• A PPP involves a sharing of project responsibilities and risks between public owners of public transportation facilities and their private sector partners - not an abdication of public authority over or responsibility for these important infrastructure assets.
• Transit agency sponsors of PPP projects should develop an appropriate sharing of responsibilities, risks, and rewards with the private sector through a transparent contractual arrangement that assigns functions and risks to the partner best able to manage them.
• Transit agency project sponsors interested in a potential PPP arrangement should seek private sector partners with mutually complementary project interests and a willingness to accommodate changing conditions and opportunities consistent with the desired project outcomes and performance.
• Transit agency project sponsors should hold private project partners accountable for project performance in their areas of responsibility, consistent with the terms of the PPP contract agreement, through continuous contract administration involving performance monitoring and reporting, and where appropriate, enforcement of a performance-based payment mechanism.
• The uncertainty associated with introducing PPP approaches to state and local surface transportation programs and projects can be reduced through insights and guidance from the extensive literature on developing and implementing PPP programs and projects in the United States and around the world, as well as documented results of successfully implemented PPP programs and projects by other surface transportation agencies.
• Building on the successes of recent PPP projects by pioneering transit agencies, the potential exists to reduce the costs, accelerate the delivery, and improve the quality of fixed guideway projects and services through PPP approaches to project delivery and operations.
Urban mobility stands to benefit from the advantages that PPPs can bring to the transit community when properly managed and executed. In a broader context, PPPs represent an important means to sustain citizens' quality of life and foster the country's economic growth in an increasingly competitive global economy.