Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx: P3s Not ‘100% Solution to America’s Infrastructure Deficit’
WASHINGTON — Investment agreements on infrastructure projects between government agencies and private investors, while essential, are part of a broader financial strategy to pay for such projects around the country, Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said at a conference Sept. 22.
“I don’t believe public-private partnerships are the 100% solution to America’s infrastructure deficit. It’s a part of an ecosystem that supports the growth of American infrastructure in more ways,” Foxx said in a keynote address before the Long-term Infrastructure Investors Association.
Public-private partnerships, user fees, and billing motorists for the miles they travel are among the tools state and local officials may adopt to back large-scale highway projects.
At the event, Foxx also touted the Obama administration’s recent effort to streamline the permitting of infrastructure projects through certain improvements to the Federal Infrastructure Permitting Dashboard. Launched four years ago, the dashboard is designed to provide updates on the permitting process.
Members of the Long-term Infrastructure Investors Association gathered here for their second annual meeting to introduce investors to national projects. “If you put the 100 key decision makers in a room, substantial progress in narrowing the gap of mutual alignment can be made,” group Chairman Thierry Deau said.
