High Performance Corridors: Emerging Transportation Management Framework?

Abstract

U.S. transportation authorities are expanding toll roads and use of public-private partnerships (PPPs) to finance transportation. What are the implications for traffic growth, sprawl, and pollution? What do recent deals portend for public involvement, governance, and information access about transportation system performance? What is the likelihood that these deals will address the public priorities and needs, with transparency and oversight of performance and use of funds? Will those putting PPP contracts together be focused on how different contract structures might affect the behavior of public and private sector actors and the performance of the transportation system? This paper explores these issues by examining several recent and proposed toll road PPP concession agreements, laws, and debates. The paper suggests that depending on the terms of the agreements and how funds are used, these investments could lead to a significant growth in traffic, sprawl, air and water pollution, and inequality of access to jobs and public facilities. This is particularly a risk if these projects proceed with little consideration of alternatives and only cursory review of indirect, secondary, and cumulative impacts on the environment and public health. However, if PPP projects were to adapt and extend what may be emerging best practices in PPP contracting and project development, these deals might be transformed into a new model – the High Performance Corridor. Recent experience with community benefit agreements and standard setting for other transportation projects in California offer useful lessons. The paper suggests ways to broaden support for PPP road investments with contractual obligations to respect communities and the environment through enforceable performance agreements, use of concession fees and toll revenues for investments in better transit and the mitigation and remediation of adverse transportation impacts, and reducing the share of tolls used to build bigger or new roads. Such an approach could help implement the 2005 U.S. transportation law, which for the first time requires state and regional transportation plans to achieve the objectives of the federally mandated planning process - to improve mobility and safety while minimizing fuel use and air pollution emissions. The paper discusses and extends an alternative concession agreement approach, drawing on recent work by Federal Highway Administration official Pat DeCorla-Souza. That work suggests an “Operate-DesignBuild-Operate model” that focuses first on operating the existing highway corridor with such strategies as improved transit and vanpool services, rush hour shoulder lanes, ramp-metering, and peak-period congestion charges. Investment in new capacity follows only after first implementing cost-effective operational improvements. Peak period tolls set to manage congestion might not be retained by the concessionaire, but managed publicly. Concessionaire income might be based on “shadow tolls” based on the number of people and amount of goods moved in the corridor without congestion and meeting environmental requirements.