Public-Private Partnership (P3) projects are becoming an increasingly popular mechanism for providing infrastructure works in Canada, however, challenges remain. In terms of highway infrastructure, a P3 project may meet standard, but standard and safe are not synonymous - standards represent minimum requirements that are intended to be met or exceeded. The Highway Element Investment Review (HEIR) Guidelines recently developed by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation provide one means of ensuring that P3 projects look beyond standards in developing the highway design. Within the guidelines, an approach is given for comparing the cost of a particular measure against the anticipated safety and operational benefits. Such information provides a basis for justifying design decisions and selecting among alternatives. The guidelines apply to new construction and rehabilitation projects involving both traditional and non-traditional (e.g., P3) funding arrangements, allowing decisions to be made that include explicit consideration of cost-effectiveness. This paper provides a general introduction to the HEIR Guidelines and outlines their potential value for P3 and non-P3 projects alike. For the covering abstract of this conference see ITRD number E216597.
Samenvatting