Category: 2014 News

The Center Advisory Board is pleased to welcome Dennis Galligan, Vice President of Business Development for Lane Construction. Mr. Galligan draws on over forty years in the infrastructure design and construction business in his current position at Lane Construction, where he is responsible for the pursuit of large design-build and public-private partnership projects.  He brings to his work with the Center a perspective honed through extensive experience in power, transportation and water resource development projects. Mr. Galligan holds a Mechanical Engineering degree from Lehigh University.

Dr. Jonathan Gifford was invited to participate in the COTA International Conference of Transportation Professionals (CICTP), held in July in Changsha, China and organized by the Chinese Overseas Transportation Association (COTA) and Central South University.  Dr. Gifford’s presentation, Public Private Partnerships in United States Transportation System Development: Performance Evaluation and Data Disclosure, will provide Chinese transportation professionals and international attendees an opportunity to gain a deeper understanding of the role public-private partnerships play in transportation development in the U.S.

The new Director of the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Office of Transportation Public-Private Partnership (OTP3), J. Douglas Koelemay, has joined the Center’s Advisory Board. Koelemay, who is responsible for leading the statewide program that delivers projects under the Virginia Public-Private Transportation Act of 1995 (or PPTA), is one of the Center’s chief public center partners. He visited the Center recently to discuss Governor McAuliffe’s vision for P3s in his administration and was briefed by doctoral students on their ongoing research projects.

Koelemay was appointed to the Commonwealth Transportation Board (CTB) in 2006. He represented Northern Virginia on the CTB until 2012. While a CTB member, he focused on transportation strategy, corridors of statewide significance and multimodal planning for U.S. 29, Route 606, Dulles International Airport and the Tysons Corner area.

Koelemay also served as Vice President for Public Affairs for the Northern Virginia Technology Council. In 1993, he wrote “Financing the Future: Report of the Commission to Promote Investment in America’s Infrastructure,” regarding the status of infrastructure funding in the 1991 federal transportation authorization (the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act, or ISTEA).

“Virginia remains committed to the tenets of the 1995 PPTA act and the benefits of using private capital to help fund major transportation projects,” Secretary Layne said, when appointing Koelemay to lead the OTP3. “As a policy and public affairs professional, Doug’s critical knowledge of the vital relationships and countless other factors required for any successful public-private transportation project will ensure that Virginia’s investments in such ventures continue to bring us the best return from the public’s tax dollars.”

Center GRA, Nobuhiko Daito, recently applied for and received a Dissertation Completion Grant from the Mason Office of the Provost.  Daito’s application stood out in a competitive pool of many outstanding applications received and considered by the Selection Committee. Congratulations!

Zhenhua Chen won the prize for his dissertation entitled “Transportation and Regional Output in the Northeast Megaregion: A Spatial Econometric Computable General Equilibrium Assessment”. He was supervised by Professor Kingsley Haynes, George Mason University. For more details please go to http://www.regionalscience.org/index.php?option=com_k2&view=item&layout=item&id=365&Itemid=602.

Nobuhiko Daito, Center Graduate Research Assistant, is currently a doctoral student at George Mason University School of Policy, Government, and International Affairs. After receiving a Master of Urban and Regional Planning degree from the University of California, Irvine, he began his quest for a PhD at GMU in 2010, hoping to develop analytical skills and explore a research-related career relevant to policy making.  His research interests include infrastructure financing, transportation policy, public finance, public-private partnerships, spatial analysis and non-motorized transportation modes. His research focus under the supervision of Professor Jonathan Gifford is institutional factors and performance of public-private partnership policy and projects.

Public-private partnerships (P3s) have become an important policy instrument for public agencies. In the face of severe fiscal constraints, agencies may employ P3s to achieve life cycle cost efficiency while continuing to invest in infrastructure. Daito’s proposed dissertation will explore the institutional and political factors that affect private investment in public infrastructure and the consequences of those decisions. The dissertation will consist of three essays with focused questions: (1) What are the differences in construction costs between P3s and traditionally procured projects?; (2) What factors contribute to the use of private investment to P3s?; and (3) What are the predicted outcomes of the P3 and traditional models, with respect to tolls, operational surplus, and aggregate welfare?