During the decades of the 1970s and 80s, a significant erosion of governments' ability to finance highway improvements has taken place. This erosion has been caused by several factors: failure of government highway revenues to keep pace with construction cost increases; loss of buying power of constant dollar gasoline taxes due to inflation; increased capital costs due to higher interest rates; the need to spend more on maintenance and rehabilitation due to deterioration of infrastructure condition. This thesis surveys the various types of private funding programs currently in use. The efficacy of each program type is evaluated according to five criteria; fiscal effectiveness; secondary effects; implementation effort; social incidence and equity; risk of failure. Practical problems with private funding programs are also examined. A practical methodology for structuring a private funding program is developed. The methodology defines a set of decisions to be made in structuring such a program, and a set of factors which must be considered in making those decisions. The thesis explores the practical relationship between these two sets. The most common set of factor states (representing fast growing suburbs) is presented, together with appropriate programs for such a case. Finally, this thesis applies the methodology to a suburban town in Massachusetts that is interested in private funding, and suggests a program which would be appropriate for that case.
Abstract