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Evaluating the Role of Private Investment in Infrastructure Assets
University Transportation Research Center - Region 2
Cornell University, October 2015

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The major objectives of this study is to develop a comprehensive and inclusive framework and lessons/guidelines for designing socially beneficial, sustainable, and system-improving P3 projects. It seeks to close an important gap in our knowledge concerns the decision about which projects would become a suitable fit for P3 procurements. This study considers alternative P3 approaches for profit maximization and system cost minimization at full urban transportation network scales to make several policy recommendations on improving transportation system performance while maintaining profitability.

Synthesis of Public-Private Partnerships: Potential Issues and Best Practices for Program and Project Implementation and Administration
Kentucky Transportation Center, August 2015
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This report reviews the literature on P3 benefits and drawbacks and makes policy recommendations as Kentucky contemplates P3 authorization. It includes guidance and best practice that can ensure successful P3 implementation.

Feasibility Study Guideline for Public Private Partnership Projects
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This report presents a framework for PPP feasibility study at the early phase of project development. The financing analysis process model is developed and refined for the guideline. An Excel-based software package named P3FAST is developed and attached with the research report to facilitate the PPP feasibility study for transportation agencies. An example is discussed to demonstrate the analysis process and outcome. Three types of PPP models are compared and evaluated to achieve a feasible financing structure. The report includes two volumes: Volume I Research Report and Volume II Feasibility Study Guideline.

"Successful Delivery of Public-Private Partnerships for Infrastructure Development."
Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, American Society of Civil Engineers, ASCE, 133(12), 918-931. Abdel Aziz, A. M (2007).

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Two common approaches have been used by governments for the implementation of public-private partnerships (P3s): a finance-based approach that aims to use private financing to satisfy infrastructure needs, and a service-based approach that aims to optimize the time and cost efficiencies in service delivery. The implementation of P3s, however, may suffer from legal, political, and cultural impediments. In the United States, the federal government enabled a number of acts to ease the impediments and promote P3s for infrastructure development. Based on a detailed analysis of P3s in the United Kingdom and British Columbia, Canada, this paper describes principles that would characterize the implementation of P3s at the program level (e.g., whether the implementation is successful). The principles pertain to the: availability of a P3 legal framework and implementation units; perception of the private finance objectives, risk allocation consequences, and value-for-money objectives; maintenance of P3s process transparency; standardization of procedures; and use of performance specifications. Guidelines for successful implementation are explained and discussed in the context of the United States P3s experience and impediments.

"A Survey of the Payment Mechanisms for Transportation DBFO (P3) Contracts in British Columbia"
Construction Management and Economics, 25(5), 492-543 (London, UK). Abdel Aziz, A. M (2007).
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In traditional project delivery systems, payment mechanisms provide compensation for the work performed using construction capital payments. In the alternative public-private partnership (P3) systems, payment mechanisms follow the selected P3 system. For example, the build-operate-transfer system provides compensation based on project demand using real-tolls usage payments; the design-build-finance-operate (DBFO) system provides shadow-tolls usage payments; and the performance-based DBFO system provides compensation based on contractor's performance using service availability payments. Designing the payment structure is an important task where several factors have to be considered. This paper analyses the implementation of payment mechanisms in a number of DBFO transportation projects in BC, Canada, in terms of payment structure, payment types and characteristics, determination and funding. The analysis provides insights for the design of payment mechanisms. The analysis shows that more payment types are being used and that the mechanisms are designed to achieve specific government objectives. The analysis refers to a new ‘hybrid' payment mechanism with elements derived from the traditional and the P3 systems. The hybrid system may have potential to minimize the overall project cost; however, agencies have to be flexible in the delivery concepts as combinations of payments for inputs, usage and services might have to be used.

"A Structure for Government Requirements in Public-Private Partnerships "
Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, 28(6), 891-909. Abdel-Aziz, A. M. and Russell, A.D. (2001).
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A spectrum of requirements for the procurement of public infrastructure under various public-private partnership arrangements has been communicated by governments to the private sector participants. This paper suggests a structure for these requirements and demonstrates how they have been realized in public-private partnership projects. Government requirements are categorized and described under a structure of three dimensions: rights, obligations, and liabilities. Each dimension is further defined and explained through a number of attributes. The structure provides insights as to the basis for the different modes under public-private partnerships such as build-operate-transfer, build-own-operate-transfer, and build-transfer-operate. The structure is used to examine government requirements in a number of public-private partnership transportation projects. The results show that, for each dimension and its related attributes, comprehensive and clear articulation of government requirements is generally needed. This will reduce the amount of supplemental materials issued for the request for proposals, help consortiums in responding with proposals that can fit the requirements and reduce the amount of time spent in negotiations and (or) the need for contract amendments to reflect marketplace realities missed earlier.

"Public-Private Partnerships and the Development of Transport Infrastructure: Trends on Both Sides of the Atlantic"
First International Conference on Funding Transportation Infrastructure. Perez, Benjamin G. (PB Consult) and James W. March (FHWA). Institute of Public Economics at the University of Alberta. (August 2006).

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This investigation focuses on how forces - such as the will of the government to extract resources to meet the public's needs and the extent to which the national economy can produce them - have shaped the use of P3s in developing transport infrastructure in Europe and the United States. It begins by describing the different ways the public and private sectors collaborate to develop transport infrastructure in the United States and then compares recent experience and emerging trends in P3 applications on both sides of the Atlantic.

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