Commentary

New Reason/Platte Institute Study Suggests Transportation Public-Private Partnerships for Nebraska

In case you missed it, last week Reason Foundation and the Platte Institute for Economic Research jointly released a new study suggesting that Nebraska policymakers embrace the considerable potential of transportation public-private partnerships (PPPs) for highway funding and operations. In fact, co-author Shirley Ybarra and I wrote that PPPs may offer a viable means of financing some of Nebraska’s large-scale capital improvement projects that currently lack funding, such as the $175 million Highway 2/Lincoln South Beltway project and the $145 million Highway 34/75 Missouri River Crossing.

The study offers an overview of PPPs and their applications, public policy best practices, state PPP enabling legislation, and an update on PPPs in the wake of the financial crisis.

See media coverage of the report in the Lincoln Journal Star and Omaha World-Herald, as well as this related editorial from the Journal Star.