One of the most significant requirements to further implementation of PPPs in the highway sector is the lack of specific authorizing legislation in many states. Although the number of states with such legislation has increased recently, as of June 2007 only about half of the states had legislation providing clear authority to engage in the types of PPP arrangements discussed in this report. In many of those states, the authority is limited to a particular project or region, only permits certain types of innovative contracting approaches, or otherwise imposes significant limitations on the ability of state and local governments to use PPP structures.
One of the first states to adopt comprehensive legislation authorizing PPPs was Virginia, which adopted its Public-Private Transportation Act (PPTA) in 1995. 124 Several other states have followed Virginia's lead through the passage of similar enabling legislation, and the PPTA helped position the Commonwealth of Virginia at the vanguard of the PPP movement.
Since implementation of the PPTA, Virginia has implemented a number of highway projects involving close collaboration between VDOT and a variety of private entities. Recent examples include the Pocahontas Parkway, an 8.8-mi tolled highway connector outside of Richmond that was the first project implemented under the PPTA, and the Dulles Greenway, a 12.5-mi tolled highway in the suburbs of Northern Virginia. Virginia estimates that its transportation needs will total more than $100 billion over the next 20 years, and it has projected that 15 to 20 percent of these potential funds will be used in some form of PPP.125
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
123 See USDOT FHWA State PPP Legislation Overview Table, available at http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/ppp/tools_state_legis_table.htm.
124 Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995, Va. Code Ann. § 56.566-575 (1995).
125 Andrew Ackerman, Virginia: Once Again, Transportation Issues Dominate, The Bond Buyer, Mar. 28, 2007.