Category: Events

Chris Guthkelch, Project Director at Skanska Infrastructure Development, gave a presentation on December 3 to the Introduction to Transportation Systems and P3 Policy classes at George Mason. The presentation, titled “Elizabeth River Tunnels: The Story So Far,” provided a thorough overview of the Hampton Roads, VA project, including early needs and feasibility assessments, pre-development stages, project team members, project scope and the various stages of actual development. His presentation concluded with “lessons learned” during the project, as well as implications for policy makers. Click here to see Mr. Guthkelch’s slide presentation.

Prior to his presentation, Mr. Guthkelch participated in the Center’s Professional Insights series, sharing pizza and observations about his career path with students. Dubbed “Pizza PI,” the series helps students connect with leading professionals and enjoy the rare opportunity to query them about their motivations, lessons learned and other career insights.

Nicolas Rubio, US President of Cintra, gave a presentation on PPPs to the Introduction to Transportation Systems and P3 Policy classes at George Mason as part of the Center’s Professional Insights series. The presentation on the Rationale of Public-Private Partnerships covered the incentives and risks of public-private partnerships, as well as the different types of private sector involvement. The presentation also addressed the business model of concessions and how sponsors make money. Click here to see Mr. Rubio’s slide presentation.

The Bond Buyer, the longstanding daily newspaper of the municipal bond industry, will host a Transportation Finance/P3 Conference, November 16-18, 2014, at the Westin Arlington Gateway, in Arlington, Virginia. The Center is currently in discussion with event organizers about anticipated linkages for the Center’s Graduate and Executive Education activities and related audiences.

Dr. Shanjiang Zhu, Center Research Fellow (pictured below right) and Porter K. Wheeler, Center Consultant (pictured below left), participated in the 2014 Governor’s Transportation Conference held at the Hotel Roanoke and Conference Center November 12-14, 2014. Transportation leaders from around the Commonwealth and the U.S. discussed current transportation issues and the solutions necessary to drive Virginia’s economy forward. New transportation projects and improvements will provide the impetus for lively economic development and community growth.

Graduate Research Associates Nobuhiko Daito and Jeong Yun Kweun presented posters at the Association for Public Policy Analysis and Management (APPAM) Fall Research Conference held November 6-8, 2014 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The APPAM Fall Research Conference is a multi-disciplinary annual research conference that attracts the highest quality research on a wide variety of important current and emerging policy and management issues. The conference is comprised of panels, roundtables, workshops, symposia and poster presentations, and is designed to encourage substantive interaction among participants.  The Center was pleased to contribute content to this important gathering.

Public-Private Partnerships under Fiscal Distress and Political Contestability, presented by Nobuhiko Daito.

On October 27, 2014, the prestigious International Transport Forum (ITF) kicked off its P3 Renegotiation roundtable at Mason’s campus in Arlington, Virginia.  The forum, called Private Partnerships for Transport Infrastructure: Renegotiations, How to Approach Them and Economic Outcomes, was hosted by George Mason University in collaboration with ITF and the World Bank.  Center Director, Professor Jonathan Gifford, led the Center’s team in presenting a paper entitled PPP Renegotiation Experiences in the U.S.

Renegotiation of P3s is a common occurrence and can have a significant impact on value for money on a project.  Since P3s are complex, substantial and costly financial structures, with legal documentation alone often stretching to several hundred pages, the process is challenging at best.  Those who argue against renegotiation of P3s on any grounds and those who believe renegotiations are unavoidable and useful contribute to an ongoing debate on the topic.

The ITF Roundtable sought to review:

• the outcomes and risks most often associated with renegotiation in practice,
• the alternatives available for addressing uncertainty and incompleteness in contracts,
• elements for maximizing the chance that renegotiation will deliver net welfare benefits, and
• economic welfare impacts when termination and bankruptcy is preferred to renegotiation.

Other key presentations at the ITF roundtable include:

• Marian Moszoro, Mr. Gonzalo Araya, Ms. Fernanda Ruiz-Nuñez, and Mr. Jordan Schwartz, University of Berkeley, USA and Kozminski University, Poland; Ministry of Transport and Telecommunications, Chile; World Bank, USA. Paper title: Institutional and Political Determinants of Private Participation in Infrastructure.
•  Jose Luis Guasch, Mr. Daniel Benitez, Ms. Irene Portabales, and Mr. Lincoln Flor; World Bank, USA. Paper title: Lessons learned from the experience in transport contract renegotiations in Latin America.

To see video of Professor Gifford’s presentation, click here.