The provision of both efficient and effective road infrastructure - and transport infrastructure more generally - is clearly vital to economic development. Increasingly, both national and sub-national governments have actively explored alternative funding and ownership arrangements for such economically vital road infrastructure investments. In consequence, the private sector has actively been courted by such governments to take the lead role in designing, constructing, operating and 'owning', and to share the bulk of the attendant financial benefits and risks, of these massive road infrastructure projects. A key rationale for such a significant move towards extensive private sector involvement in road infrastructure provision and management is that it substantially reduces the pressure on governments to borrow the usually very large amounts of money required for major road infrastructure projects. In turn, this 'saved' money can either be allocated to other government funded programs, and/or used to reduce the total amount of public sector debt. This paper's aim is to objectively review and analyse the impacts, both economic and social, of the private sector in the construction, operation, maintenance and quasi ownership of major toll roads in Australia. The first section summarises the key arguments that have been advanced in Australia, both by those who strongly support such business-government 'partnerships' and by those who are strongly critical of them. The second section assesses these partnerships in respect of their economic, financial and social policy consequences. The final section presents the paper's overall findings and an outline of future research that is required before more authoritative conclusions can be reached. (Author/publisher) For the covering entry of this conference, please see ITRD abstract no. E205861.
Abstract