Wyoming DOT Director Criticizes P3s at Senate Hearing — Again
WASHINGTON — For the second time this year, Wyoming’s top transportation officer told senators on the Environment and Public Works Committee that infrastructure projects backed primarily by private funding are not ideal for rural states.
“Public-private partnerships in rural states are not the solution. We don’t have toll roads,” said Bill Panos, executive director of the Equality State’s Department of Transportation on May 3. “It is unlikely that we’ll have the kind of equity and economic value that will be attractive to a public-private partnership.”
Rural highways in Wyoming and other rural states lack the requisite traffic for setting up a revenue collection system such as tolls. A significant number of private sector financiers considering public-private partnerships, or P3s, look for corridors with high traffic volume able to ensure return on their investments.
Republican transportation leaders, led by Environment and Public Works Committee Chairman John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) and Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.), share Panos’ view of P3s. They’ve urged the Trump administration to play down the private capital component in an upcoming long-term infrastructure funding plan.
Trump has suggested a $1 trillion, 10-year infrastructure funding plan would be significantly backed by capital from the private sector. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao reiterated the sentiment when she touted P3s before Thune’s committee in January.
The White House is likely to unveil an infrastructure plan in a few weeks, missing Trump’s campaign pledge of providing Congress with such a proposal during his first 100 days in office.
