Consider Public-Private Partnerships. Public-private partnerships gained national attention in 2004 and 2005 with the lease of the Chicago Skyway and the Indiana Toll Road to the Macquarie-Cintra consortium. These partnerships involve a host of possible arrangements where the private sector assumes a portion of the risk, financing and operation of a transportation asset. Such arrangements have addressed funding gaps in a dozen states and have been strongly promoted by the U.S Department of Transportation. Some opponents question how well the public interest is protected in such deals, however. Texas enacted a moratorium on such projects in 2007, pending an exhaustive study of costs and benefits of such partnerships for transportation facilities. Nonetheless, 24 states and Puerto Rico have enacted legislation authorizing public-private partnerships, and such projects are under way in 10 states.
Continue Tolls or Increase Fees and Taxes. Kentucky enacted new authorization for tolling in 2008, and a few states are expected to consider such legislation in 2009. Raising motor vehicle fees and taxes will continue as an option for legislatures because these revenues contribute 16 percent of average state transportation revenue.