The concept of public-private partnerships (PPPs) is nowadays quite popular among policymakers dealing with the building and maintenance of road infrastructure. However, in the media more and more critical reports on PPP constructions are published. This seems to have an effect on the public opinion as well. Recent studies show that only a small part of the Dutch population is positive towards the idea of involving companies in building and maintaining roads. In the long term, this negative attitude could interfere with both political decisionmaking on PPP and the implementation of it. Therefore, the attitude of the population towards PPP is an important issue for the policymaker. In this paper, recommendations are made about how to deal with this topic. These recommendations are based on theories on attitudes and persuasion. Among other things, it is important that the government will start the process of attitude change as soon as possible, since once an attitude has been built, it is difficult to change it. Also, it is necessary to communicate in a convincing and credible way about the advantages that PPP can offer to both the citizen as an individual and the society as a whole. (A)
Abstract