Category: Current News

Center Research Published in Transportation Research Record

Research conducted by Center Graduate Research Assistant Narae Lee, and Center Director, Dr. Jonathan Gifford, has been published in the journal Transportation Research Record. “MAP-21 to FAST Act: Did the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act Program Better Support High-Risk Transportation Infrastructure Projects?”

The research evaluated the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) program’s market-leveraging outcomes by investigating whether and how the beneficiary projects’ risk profiles, as measured by credit ratings, changed between the MAP-21 and FAST Act policy periods. To read the full research, see here.

Engineering News-Record Quotes Center Director

The Engineering News-Record quotes Center Director Dr. Jonathan Gifford in an article titled, “Is the Pandemic Forcing An Evolution in P3 Work?”

“The pandemic caught a lot of people off guard,” says Jonathan Gifford, director of George Mason University’s Center for Transportation Public-Private Partnership Policy. Even with the pervasive economic disruption, “most P3 infrastructure systems are operating as expected,” he says.

Read the full article here.

Center GRA Presents Research at the TRB 100th Annual Meeting – A Virtual Event

Center’s Graduate Research Assistant Narae Lee presented her research “Credit Support and Infrastructure Investment: The Case of the Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Act (TIFIA) Program at the TRB 100th Annual Meeting — A Virtual Event during a poster session. The session featured various works relating to the use of financial and economic analysis in addressing emerging issues in transportation areas. As outlined in the poster, the research addresses the TIFIA program’s market-leveraging function since the 2015 FAST Act. The final research report, co-authored with Center’s Director Jonathan Gifford, has been accepted for publication in the Transportation Research Record.

See here for the Presentation Poster and here for the Poster References.

The Washington Post Quotes Center Director

Center Director, Dr. Janothan Gifford was quoted in The Washington Post article titled,“ Maryland could face millions in cost risks if toll lane plan for Beltway, I-270 stalls”.

Jonathan Gifford, a professor at George Mason University and director of the Center for Transportation Public-Private Partnership Policy, said early collaboration can help governments advance projects more quickly and efficiently, while also improving the design.

“The earlier you get the contractor involved,” Gifford said, “the more options for innovation you have.”

See the full article here.

The Washington Post Quotes Center Director

Center Director Dr. Janothan Gifford was quoted in The Washington Post article titled, “Possible legal challenges pose cost risks for Maryland toll lanes proposal”.

Jonathan Gifford, a professor and expert in public-private partnerships at George Mason University, said state transportation officials might proceed with a controversial project if their lawyers conclude that any lawsuits are unlikely to succeed or cause significant delays.

The companies — and, more importantly, their investors — will protect themselves from a legally vulnerable environmental analysis, he said. That’s because private financing relies on collecting toll revenue to pay back bondholders and other investors on a certain schedule.

“I’d be astonished if the state or any developer would enter into an agreement without having very explicit discussions and agreeing on how they’d cover such an eventuality,” Gifford said.

See the full article here.

Farewell to the Center’s Program Manager

The Center is saying farewell to a longtime associate of the Center: Lauren N. McCarthy. Lauren began at the Center as a Graduate Research Assistant in 2015 and became the Program Manager in the Fall of 2017. Lauren has accepted a position with the Shared-Use Mobility Center (SUMC) and will be relocating to SUMC’s Los Angeles office. Lauren’s research focus is on shared-use mobility, and she recently defended her dissertation proposal titled “Micro-mobility and the Policy Process: Policymaking in the Age of the Smart City.” Her research on P3s, mobility, and her work as program manager of the Center have prepared her well for her new position. Lauren is excited to embark on a new chapter of her career and to work on the pressing transportation issues that face many large urban areas.

Lauren’s time at the Center yielded many insightful experiences, and beyond working with a great group of people, Lauren has had the opportunity to work on a broad range of research topics surrounding P3s in the United States. Some of Lauren’s accomplishments while at the Center include organizing the annual P3 Forum, multiple fellowships and scholarship awards, obtaining a broad reach of scholarship through various outlets, speaking engagements, adjunct teaching, and assistance. Some of the highlights of Lauren’s tenure with the P3 Center include selection as a 2019 Google Policy Fellow and AIAI 2017 Infrastructure Scholar, publication in Transport Policy: “Understanding project cancellation risks in U.S. P3 surface transportation infrastructure,” and presenting her research on P3s at Transportation Research Board (TRB) conference, Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM), the World Conference on Transportation Research (WCTR), Transportation Research Forum (TRF), and the Annual Symposium on Transportation Informatics.

Lauren extends a heartfelt thank you to everyone she has worked with during her time at the P3 Center. To keep up with her activities follow her on twitter at @lmccart5 or check out her website at www.laurennmccarthy.com

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