In the Public Interest
Democracy, shared prosperity, and the common good
In the Public Interest is a comprehensive research and policy center on privatization and responsible contracting.
In the Public Interest
Democracy, shared prosperity, and the common good
In the Public Interest is a comprehensive research and policy center on privatization and responsible contracting.
A Philly suburb wants to sell its water, offering a glimpse of post-COVID America
As revenues plunge, cities like Chester, Pa., must resist the temptation to privatize crucial public goods and services.
May 2020
Congress just gave cheap, high-speed internet access to everyone. April Fools’.
Wouldn’t publicly owned and operated internet come in handy right about now? With so many students learning online and so many people working from home, wouldn’t that be nice? Americans pay more than almost anyone else [...]
April 2020
Wall Street wants in on public school construction, and that’s scary
For years, we’ve heard the same false claims behind the push to use public-private partnerships to build new infrastructure, like toll roads and prisons. Private equity firms and Wall Street banks say public-private [...]
January 2020
Fact Sheet: The perils of privatizing parking assets
In 2008, then-Mayor Richard M. Daley rushed a proposal through Chicago’s city council to lease out the city’s downtown parking meters for 75 years. Councilmembers (and the public) were given only a few days to examine [...]
April 2019
Availability Payments in Public-Private Partnerships: Issues and Implications
As localities and states in the U.S. consider public-private partnerships (P3s) to build new infrastructure, some believe that contracts structured with “availability payments” are a better alternative to the [...]
May 2018
Fact sheet: How Trump’s infrastructure plan incentivizes privatization
Trump’s plan encourages state and local governments to turn over critical public assets, including highways, airports, and water systems to Wall Street and global corporations.
February 2018
Guide: CoreCivic and GEO Group’s push for public-private partnerships in building prisons
We're concerned that private prison corporations are actively pushing governments to consider the use of private financing. Here's why.
January 2018
Statement on the Trump administration’s infrastructure plan
The Trump infrastructure plan is a giant ‘for sale’ sign for the country’s roads, bridges, water systems, and other infrastructure.
June 2017
Research Brief: Lessons learned from the Australian “asset recycling” program
While Australian-style "asset recycling" may sound like a new invention, it’s simply privatization rebranded with a new name.
June 2017
Statement on Trump administration’s plan to privatize air traffic control
The Trump administration's plan to privatize air traffic control would be a corporate giveaway to the big commercial airlines.
June 2017
Wondering what a “public-private partnership” is? Here’s what you need to know.
A new guide on public-private partnerships help citizens and organizations make sure privately financed infrastructure projects meet local needs. [...]
February 2017
Guide: Understanding and Evaluating Infrastructure Public-Private Partnerships (P3s)
A guide to help advocates, policymakers, and other stakeholders better understand and analyze infrastructure public-private partnership (P3) proposals, contracts, and related legislation.
January 2017
The fastest road in America is falling apart. Here’s why.
The country's fastest highway, Texas's State Highway 130, has been a public-private partnership disaster. But it offers lessons learned for how we rebuild America's aging infrastructure.
September 2016
Privatization Won’t Fix D.C. Transit
A public transit system should be judged by how it treats those that need it most, especially people with disabilities and our most marginalized communities.
July 2016
Cutting Corners on Safety in D.C.
Washington, D.C.'s privately operated public bus service is cutting corners on maintenance and driver pay, harming taxpayers in a number of ways.
April 2016
A Toll Road That Harms Taxpayers and the Environment
Some of the agreements we’re making to invest in our infrastructure actually put roadblocks in the way of addressing one of the biggest challenges of our time, climate change.
April 2016
We’ve Got a Lot of Work to Do, So Let’s Do It Right
Since private capital is more expensive, the public should demand even more public benefit in public-private partnerships (P3s).
March 2016
Featured Article
Building America While Building Our Middle Class March 2016What Austerity is Doing to Our Infrastructure
Evidence is mounting that the time for states to invest in America's infrastructure is now, not later.
February 2016
Is the Tragedy in Flint an Opening for Privatization?
When people say Flint's tragedy is a failure of government they really mean it's a failure of running government like a business.
January 2016
Privatizing Miami?
Infrastructure is the foundation of our society, a lifeline and connection for many communities, and an economic driver. P3s should protect and expand this core public good.
October 2015
Rebuilding America
By carefully evaluating public-private partnerships (P3s), and negotiating to include best practices for transparency, equity, and fairness, we can create projects that not only rebuild our bridges and roads, but also [...]
September 2014
Make Public-Private Partnerships a Win for All
When a P3 is structured as a “win-win-win” proposition, it can result in a win for the public with rebuilt infrastructure like roads or government buildings, a win for the economy in the creation of good jobs that lift [...]
August 2014
Win-Win-Win
In the Public Interest is pleased to offer "Infrastructure Justice: Building Equity into Infrastructure Financing,” a new resource guide to make sure that P3s include three Ws—a win for taxpayers, a win for good paying [...]
February 2014
Snowstorm HEROs
Public service workers are there when we need them. And a new report released by the Jobs with Justice Education Fund profiles how they continue to help us - even after the storms. [...]
January 2014
Featured Article
Infrastructure Justice: Building Equity into Infrastructure Financing January 2014Check Out Our New Chicago Video
Everyone knows about the parking meter debacle in Chicago, which outsourced 36,000 city parking meters to a Morgan Stanley-backed corporate consortium for 75 years. But did you know about the Privatization Transparency and [...]
October 2013
Eight Questions to Ask About the Future of the Ohio Turnpike
In 2011, the State of Ohio spent $2.85 million to commission KPMG to analyze different possibilities for borrowing against future toll revenue to the Ohio Turnpike, including privatization. This report considers the [...]
November 2012
Leasing Sovereignty: on State Infrastructure Contracts
This paper focuses on one of the more troubling features of infrastructure contracts: non-compete clauses. The relevant legal principles include the Contracts Clause, the reserved powers doctrine, legal prohibitions on [...]
March 2012
High-Speed Rail: Public, Private or Both? Assessing the Prospects, Promise and Pitfalls of [...]
High-speed rail PPPs and efforts toward rail privatization abroad have a mixed track record. The report reviews a number of international cases of better and worse cases of contracting in Europe and Asia. Public officials in [...]
July 2011
In the Public Interest? Safeguarding New Jersey’s Public Investments
This report was written in response to the New Jersey Privatization Task Force, led by former Congressman Richard Zimmer that proposed a variety of privatization projects for the state in an effort to achieve cost savings. [...]
November 2010
No Free Money: Is the Privatization of Infrastructure in the Public Interest?
This report was written as an effort to better understand the benefits and risks of privatization, distill lessons learned from across the world, and to provide a template for future privatizations of public assets. This [...]
September 2010
Road Work Ahead: Holding Government Accountable for Fixing America’s Crumbling Roads and [...]
Click here for full report Over the last 50 years, America has built roads and bridges at a pace and scale that dwarfs most of the rest of the world. We’ve built a national highway network like no other, with [...]
April 2010
The Political‐Economics of Private Infrastructure Finance: The New Sub Prime
This report, by Elliott Sclar, prepared for the Annual Meeting of the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning, explores the long‐term implications of this new political economy of public‐private finance for [...]
October 2009
Privatization and the Public Interest
This report analyzes the failed privatization projects in Chicago - with a focus on the Skyway, downtown parking garages, and parking meters - and argues for common-sense principles regarding the privatization of public [...]
September 2009
Infrastructure Privatization Contracts and Their Effect On Governance
This paper examines the operation of three provisions commonly found in infrastructure contracts: (1) compensation events; (2) noncompetition provisions; and (3) the contractor’s right to object to and receive compensation [...]
July 2009
Private Roads, Public Costs: The Facts About Toll Road Privatization and How to Protect the Public
This report discusses how the national trend in toll road privatization threatens the public interest.
April 2009
Toll Roads, Privatization, and Public Opinion
This memo provides an overview of strong public opposition to road privatization in a number of states across the U.S.
October 2008
Local Government Infrastructure and the False Promise of Privatization
This report provides guidelines on how and when privatization can be valuable and when it will fail.
September 2008
Empirical Evidence of Toll Road Traffic Diversion and Implications for Highway Infrastructure [...]
This paper examines whether the privatization of toll roads leads to a significant rise in tolls and a substantial diversion of trucks.
November 2007
What’s the Secret? Confidentiality in Planning Infrastructure Using P3s
The report explores the best practices for transparency in public-private partnerships using an urban rail line PPP in Vancouver, Canada.
September 2007
Protecting the Public Interest: The Role of Long-Term Concession Agreements for Providing [...]
This report discusses how long-term concession agreements in transportation public-private partnerships affect the public interest. [...]
July 2007
Highway Robbery II: The Many Problems With Outsourcing Transportation Projects
This report discusses the problems that arise from outsourcing transportation projects including increased costs, reduced quality and safety, and little accountability to the public.
May 2007