Investors and Voters Are Willing To Pay To Pave U.S. Highways
At 50 years, the Interstate systemand the U.S. highway building industry in generalfaces a mid-life crisis. The nations population and number of vehicle miles traveled are increasing, yet the purchasing power of the highway trust funds fuel tax revenue is decreasing. This is one 50-year-old entity with clogged arteries and a dwindling pension plan.
But private investors are ready to help whip the highway system into shape. As the next half-century of road work moves forward, road-use fees and private-sector investors will play ever-stronger roles. Tolling, rejected for the Interstates creation, may be responsible for much of its rebirth. Development concessions and private-public partnerships (PPP) will spur more design-build and partnering.