Dominant PPPs

The result is an increasing number of PPPs in the United States. The most dominant area, both in number of projects and total dollar volume of business, is in water and wastewater facilities. In some locations, the private sector provides just the operations and maintenance of publicly owned facilities. Where new technologies and/or major capital requirements are involved, private companies provide the full range of design-build-operation options. Urban and real estate development is another active area. Convention and municipal centres, housing projects and public schools are just some areas where a combination of public and private sector resources have made projects possible that previously could not be developed by either sector on their own. Transportation projects are an increasing area of focus now in the US. Airport and rail terminals, privately operated (and sometimes built) tolls roads or tunnels are increasingly common. PPPs are being used for public safety systems, such as traffic control (automated cameras for enforcement of speed limits or traffic light violations) and parking meters. Privately operated services for handling of paperwork of a wide range of routine caseloads free trained police officers for duty on the streets. And a number of correction facilities are now operated by private companies. Not all of the activity is limited to the state and local level. The federal government has entered into an aggressive programme to upgrade housing for military personnel, using partnerships to develop thousands of housing units per year. Under the current President's Administration, federal agencies are being pushed to outsourcing more federal functions that are deemed 'commercial.' While this has been a slow development (sometimes meeting resistance from civil servants and their unions), an increasing number of functions are being contracted out to the private sector

The NCPPP is a tax-exempt, non-profit institute based in Washington, DC. Information about the Council, its membership and activities can be found at www.ncppp.org

"The federal government has entered into an aggressive programme to upgrade housing for military personnel, using partnerships to develop thousands of housing units per year"