Message From the Federal Highway Administrator
I am pleased to present the Federal Highway Administration's Public-Private Partnership Manual. This Manual compiles the innovative techniques that have been developed to make it easier for the private sector to enter into a partnership with the public sector to build roads.
| Our current system for meeting highway transportation needs is clearly suffering under the burgeoning demands placed on our transportation system. Rising levels of congestion are eroding the ability of our highways to efficiently move people and goods. This adversely affects our economy and degrades our quality of life. |
With traditional methods falling short, we must find new ways to meet the complex challenges we face in delivering transportation improvements. Solutions to these challenges will necessarily include more than what the public sector can or should bear on its own. We believe Public-Private Partnerships offer the key to meeting these challenges.
More and more States are beginning to discover the benefits of partnering with private sector firms to deliver transportation facilities. The private sector often has expertise that is not readily available in the public sector, and can bring innovation, and efficiency to many types of projects. Public-Private Partnerships often provide greater flexibility in the design, construction, and maintenance of transportation facilities through the use of innovative financing, design, construction, and management techniques. As a result, these partnerships have the potential to reduce project costs and deliver higher quality transportation projects more quickly than with traditional financing and contracting methods.
Accordingly, we have been working with public and private partners to explore and implement an array of innovative techniques for financing new surface transportation projects as well as providing improvements to current facilities. We have taken steps to address impediments to the formation of
Public-Private Partnerships. This manual incorporates that work and is designed to provide guidance on effective ways to meet Federal requirements pertaining to Public-Private Partnerships.
This manual is intended to provide a one-stop resource for States interested in pursuing Public-Private Partnerships and curious as to how Federal requirements apply. Although a summary document itself, it identifies links and references that will provide access to more detailed guidance for anyone interested in exploring a Public-Private Partnership. We hope you will find it to be a useful tool. Our commitment is to continue working with the transportation community, both public and private, to expand Public-Private Partnership opportunities to help meet the Nation's transportation investment needs.
Sincerely,
J. Richard Capka, Acting Federal Highway Administrator