The effect of public-private partnerships and non-traditional procurement processes on highway planning, environmental review, and collaborative decision making. SHRP 2 Capacity Project C12, prepublication draft, not edited.

This study has been conducted as part of the Capacity Focus Area of the Second Strategic Highway Research Program (SHRP 2) which involves 22 different research efforts exploring how environmental, economic, and community issues can be integrated into the analysis, planning, and design of new highway capacity. The centerpiece of the SHRP 2 Capacity Focus Area is the Decision Guide; a four-phased structure of key decisions common to the development of all transportation projects through the completion of Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) and Nation Environmental Protection Act (NEPA) processes: long-range planning, programming, corridor planning, and environmental review/permitting. The specific purpose of this study -- SHRP 2 C12, The Effect of Public-Private Partnerships and Non-Traditional Procurement Processes on Highway Planning, Environmental Review, and Collaborative Decision Making -- is to assess the interplay between the use of public-private partnerships (P3s) and the transportation and environmental planning processes in order to identify, if P3s are to be considered as a means to procure transportation improvements, how and when they should be considered. The framework of the established Decision Guide was considered throughout this process with special attention paid to how P3 procurements interface and influence it. The research conducted for SHRP 2 C12 is based on extensive interviews with state transportation department and MPO officials and private investors with hands-on experience implementing P3 projects, a review of relevant government laws and regulations, and secondary source materials. (Author/publisher)