Another Day, Another P3 Failure
The Purple Line, a 16-mile light rail project in southern Maryland just outside of Washington D.C., is the latest public-private partnership (P3) “success” story gone awry, according to the public advocacy group, In the Public Interest.
In an article written by the group’s Executive Director, Donald Cohen, the Purple Line P3 is described as a “cautionary tale, with epic delays and out-of-control cost overruns.”
The Purple Line began as a five-year, nearly $2 billion construction project. Costs have now ballooned to $3.4 billion and the project will take more than 10 years to complete. In fact, according to the article, the original completion date was March 2023 – next month. Now, sadly, Maryland light rail users will be waiting until at least mid-2027 to use the Purple Line.
Cohen also discusses the inherent problems with P3s and using private capital to solve infrastructure funding problems. Private interests that fund P3s are only going to put their money where a big profit is guaranteed. This can run afoul of public policy and public interest goals.
P3s can also add unnecessary costs to a project. In addition to the higher borrowing costs for private capital, Cohen reminds readers to think of the billable legal hours all along the way for each of the private parties involved in a project with an 876-page original contract – which has since been amended – that governs the Purple Line P3.
Cohen furthers explains that when an infrastructure project is privatized, the public “loses control over an essential public good, for decades.” That control is handed over to a private company that gets the power and authority over that project, often with no accountability to the public.
NASHTU has partnered with In the Public Interest over the past several years, working in tandem to oppose P3s in state and federal legislation. ITPI and their staff have also been featured at several NASHTU Annual conferences, including the most recent NASHTU Conference last May.
Read the full article at In the Public Interest.
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