2018 Theses Master's

Public Private Partnerships: A look inside using private sector expertise to build public sector needs

Gallo, Alexander

Today, governments have less money to fund public projects and are trying to solve this through Public-Private Partnerships. This paper reviews several case studies for public private partnerships such as Via Verde, an affordable housing development in the Bronx, New York and the Eagle P3 fast track, a light rail expansion in Denver, Colorado. In order to determine the success of the projects, I review the goal of the project as well as the goals of the public and private entities. For the Eagle P3 I was able to measure the difference in proposed travel time and actual travel time to determine if the system was operating successfully. For the Via Verde I reviewed the planned affordable rent prices and matched them with what they are actually going for to see if the units were actually affordable to the people in the area. In both cases the results proved to be positive. The light rail was running on time with no delays and the units in the Via Verde were affordable to the people in the area. I also review the financial structuring of the Eagle P3 to determine the burden that is put on to the public sector. The findings suggest that Public-Private Partnerships can be beneficial for public sector needs.