Jonathan Gifford (SPGIA), Director of the P3 Transportation Center, accompanied by Kerry Bolognese (Director of Federal Relations), visited seven Virginia Congressional offices in July. With the Surface Transportation bill being debated in Congress, Gifford explained the value of P3s in meeting the nation’s transportation infrastructure needs and the potential role of the P3 Center in assessing the quality of proposed P3 projects. The Center was launched with funding from the Commonwealth of Virginia and advances objective consideration of P3s through research, education, and outreach. Gifford shared some of the Center’s accomplishments, including 20 case studies of P3 projects focusing on risk allocation, financial impacts, barriers, and other aspects. Gifford also highlighted the educational component of the Center – training dozens of experts in P3s to fill the workforce. Gifford talked about a new initiative, the P3 Evidence Program, to bring together best practices from academia and the public and private sectors to build evidence for evaluating the efficacy of the P3 approach. This effort is geared specifically toward policymakers who have to make decisions on the value and quality of P3s. P3 contracts may last 50-75 years and valued in the tens of billions of dollars. In the past, the Center has conducted briefings for the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, participated in a roundtable conducted by the House P3 Caucus, and Gifford has testified before the House Small Business Committee.
Categories