Interview
Anthony BUCKLEY
IRF: What in your view are some of the main forces driving partnerships between the public and private sector in delivering transportation projects?
AB: Need and Immediacy – a need for alternative financing methods and immediacy to address these needs. The transportation infrastructure here in the US is under stress, our major systems are severely congested and many are in less than optimal working condition (ie., seismic issues on the West Coast). P3’s provide the opportunity to access financing and accelerate the delivery of projects that many states are struggling to address.
IRF: How does your office accompany this process, and what results have you experienced to date?
AB: My offices is engaged with educating our state legislature and the public regarding the appropriate use of P3s. Washington state has no existing transportation P3s, but has come close many times.
There still exist a strong misunderstanding of what P3s are and how they can be structured and/or deployed.
IRF: What do you perceive as the main value of a global conference focused on innovation in the road sector?
AB: The main value is in the networking and learning from peers what has and has not worked in their respective regions. Reading case studies and media reports on P3 projects is great, but there is greater value in actually sitting down with persons actually engaged in the project and hearing from them what went well and what they’d do differently.