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,” Foxxsaidin 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 . 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.