Infrastructure

A new report from the Brookings Institution calls for a Federal Public-Private Partnership (PPP) for infrastructure investement by potentially streamlining the process. 

To address this problem, countries, states, and provinces around the world have created specialized institutional entities—called PPP units—to fulfill different functions such as quality control, policy formulation, and technical advice. The federal government should establish a dedicated PPP unit to tackle bottlenecks in the PPP process, protect the public interest, and provide technical assistance to states and other public entities that cannot develop the internal capacity necessary to deal with the projects themselves.

The full report can be found on their website. 

A new paper in Environmental Research Letters by Arizona State's Mikhail Chester and UC Berkeley's Arpad Horvath assess the potential environmental impact of California Highspeed Rail, more efficient automobiles and aricraft for transportation through the California Corridor.

Sustainable mobility policy for long-distance transportation services should consider emerging automobiles and aircraft as well as infrastructure and supply chain life-cycle effects in the assessment of new high-speed rail systems. Using the California corridor, future automobiles, high-speed rail and aircraft long-distance travel are evaluated, considering emerging fuel-efficient vehicles, new train designs and the possibility that the region will meet renewable electricity goals. An attributional per passenger-kilometer-traveled life-cycle inventory is first developed including vehicle, infrastructure and energy production components. A consequential life-cycle impact assessment is then established to evaluate existing infrastructure expansion against the construction of a new high-speed rail system. The results show that when using the life-cycle assessment framework, greenhouse gas footprints increase significantly and human health and environmental damage potentials may be dominated by indirect and supply chain components. The environmental payback is most sensitive to the number of automobile trips shifted to high-speed rail, and for greenhouse gases is likely to occur in 20–30 years. A high-speed rail system that is deployed with state-of-the-art trains, electricity that has met renewable goals, and in a configuration that endorses high ridership will provide significant environmental benefits over existing modes. Opportunities exist for reducing the long-distance transportation footprint by incentivizing large automobile trip shifts, meeting clean electricity goals and reducing material production effects.

The full paper and supplemental data can be found here.

Yesterday we talked about Britain's proposed privatization of their transport infrastructre and made an error when we said the Pennsylvania Turnpike was leased to a private company. In 2007 bidding was opened on the Turnpike and in 2008 the highest bid was received from Spanish firm Abertis Infraestructuras, but ultimately the plan failed. Currently the Turnpike is managed by a state-operated commision that "receives no state or federal taxes to operate and maintain its toll road system." The Pew report, Driven by Dollars, outlines several of the problems that were a part of the leasing proposal and calls for a more open process and transparency.

As funding sources dry up, such as the transportation bill now stuck in gridlock on Capitol Hill or depleted state budgets, transportation agencies will have to come up with new methods of financing which has an increasing interest on private money. The 2011 book Road to Renewal examines private investment in transportation projects from around the world, outlining what works and what doesnt for PPPs as well as how to protect public interests. Louise Nelson Dyble has a recently published article "Tolls and Control: The Chicago Skyway and the Pennsylvania Turnpike" which compares the two plans and raises questions about impact on future transportation planning policy.

This week’s special Wednesday TRANSOC Seminar has Dr. Hironori Kato, Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, University of Tokyo, presenting “Impacts of Fukushima-Daiichi Nuclear Disaster on Port Activities in Japan and Maritime Transportation to and from Japan: Latest Report.”

The Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami on March 11, 2011 stressed the importance of reconsidering catastrophic disaster and risk management in international transportation policies and markets. This presentation will examine the impacts of the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster on port activities and maritime transportation in Japan, with emphasis on the effect of port traffic diversion as international vessels began avoiding areas of high radiation including ports in Tokyo/Yokohama and the Tohoku region. The process used by shipping companies to make these diversion decisions will be investigated, through a combination of literature review and interviews with port authorities and shippers. This presentation will also examine the reactions of port users to the high levels of radiation, as well as the countermeasures taken by port authorities to discourage traffic diversion.  Key lessons are drawn from Japan’s experiences for international transportation engineers, policy makers and business leaders.

The seminar will be held on March 14 from 3-4 p.m. in 544 Davis Hall.