Texas also remains out front on PPP. The $2.5-billion North Tarrant Express project in Fort Worth broke ground in October 2010, with completion scheduled for 2015. That project is being built through a PPP with the NTE Mobility Partners consortium, led by Cintra US, Austin, Texas.

Faced with shrinking revenues, tolling could gain favor in several states in the coming years. The state of Washington directed roughly $15.5 billion toward 421 projects through gas-tax increases passed in 2003 and 2005. With those funds nearly 85% spent, the state has limited options for additional funding. “The benefits are in place, but the commitment at the pump [to pay for the projects] will last 30 years,” says Paula Hammond, WSDOT secretary. “There won't be another round of projects from that. The money is gone and off the table.”

Even with improvements created by that tranche of funding, Hammond says the state could easily identify another $15 billion in needs. WSDOT doesn't have the funds to start its Columbia River Crossing projects, which would replace the I-5 bridge between Vancouver, Wash., and Portland, Ore., nor can it finish projects such as the 15-mile I-90 Snoqualmie Pass job,which only has funding for a five-mile portion, she adds.

As a stopgap, Washington state will increasingly turn to collecting tolls. In December, the state starts tolling the state Route 520 bridge in Seattle to generate funds for construction of a replacement bridge. WSDOT is aiming for a 2014 opening of the replacement.

Hammond says the department's long-term vision includes converting nearly 300 miles of high-occupancy vehicle lanes around Puget Sound to high-occupancy tolling lanes, creating a means to fund more projects. “We'll be tolling more, but only at a pace the public will accept,” she adds.

Failure to pass a multiyear surface transportation bill also has hampered plans in recent years. In April, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) raised concerns among DOT directors when he forwarded a plan that would cut transportation funding by as much as a third. Since then, Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) presented a two-year, $109-billion plan, and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman John Mica (R-Fla.) revealed that a $285-billion, six-year bill could work if a $50-billion to $100-billion shortfall could be fixed.

While Congress debates, DOT directors are pushing forward with some trepidation. Rhode Island relies almost entirely on federal funds for its program, says Michael Lewis, RIDOT director. He says the state faces significant debt service obligations in the coming years and cannot make up the difference. “Reauthorization of a surface transportation bill will make or break Rhode Island's ability to offer even basic services,” he says.

In addition, the state has significant capital needs for large projects. Lewis says the state faces around $3 billion in needs over the next 10 years. Major projects include the $150-million Providence Viaduct Bridge replacement and the roughly $300 million in needs on U.S. Route 6/state Route 10 in Providence. “There no way of financing [that Route 6/Route 10] project under the current system,” according to Lewis. “It's not even on our radar.”

This year, the state has pursued multiple plans to add I-95 tolls but with no success. “The only thing worse than tolling is not tolling,” Lewis says. “Unless we come up with more sources of revenue, we're just going to fall further and further behind.”

Even California, which boasts one of the largest programs in the country, is cautious about the future. The state has roughly 770 projects under way, valued at $10.5 billion in funds, which were largely drawn from a combination of ARRA and the Proposition 1B transportation bond program.

Malcolm Dougherty, Caltrans acting director, says funding is a boon today, but the state already is taking measures to prepare for a downturn within four years.

“Because of what we see on the horizon, we need to be lean,” Dougherty says. “ARRA will sunset, and Proposition 1B will run its course. We need to plan now for what's next.”