Absolutely not, PPP’s are not even on our radar screen. Why would we need a PPP relationship. We don’t need their tolls, funding or an entire new level of costs and management. Park-n-Rail has an innovative solution to funding and removing cars off our interstates within minutes and quickly onto Metro. The users simply pay standard parking and subway fees to easily fund the cost of construction to build a Park-n-Rail garage and metro station.

With Park-n-Rail we don’t need to widen roads; we don’t need to spend the next 7-10 years adding 4 new lanes to our beltway and we don’t need to be married to a PPP contractor for at least the next 3 decades. We really don’t need a PPP.

The Purple Line in Maryland is now 4.5 years behind schedule and will not open until late 2026. There are cost overruns exceeding $1.4 billion and Maryland has no option but to pay these higher costs. The PPP contractor controls everything in this relationship, it is certainly not a partnership. The duration of this contract is to last approximately 36 years. We believe there is more pain to come in this partnership.

According to the Washington Post “The longer-term financial implications {of the purple line} would be steeper. The state’s cost of a broader agreement for a private concessionaire to build, operate and maintain the line for several decades would climb from $5.6 billion to $9.3 billion.”

We believe our elected officials in Maryland will now take a closer look at a Park-n-Rail solution, largely because there are no tolls, no roads to expand and no PPP contractor. Our elected officials now have a second option on how to solve our traffic challenges on I-270 and I-495. The Park-n-Rail option was not available when early decisions were made on how to fund the road expansions on I-270 and I-495.

It is important to understand that if the construction projects on I-270 and I-495 are delayed in mid-stream and the PPP contractor leaves or stops construction for whatever reason, it would not only be a devastating blow to our commuters but our entire region who have come to rely on these very important highways. Who knows what will happen a few years into construction. The PPP contractor could simply say there are cost overruns of $200 million dollars and they cannot continue without more funding. The PPP contractor will always be a sole source contractor for cost overruns. There will never be a bidding process to get the best possible price once these PPP contracts begin.

These contracts will be huge and there are many areas where the contractor can say he was not aware of a particular dispute. For example, during construction, the PPP contractor came across an unknown water line, they could simply say they need another $25 million dollars to reroute this line. One could easily imagine that this contract could be delayed for months if not years because of these types of disputes.

Selecting a PPP is a bad idea for these contracts to expand I-270 and I-495. We have one disaster with the Purple Line, we certainly don’t need a second one.

Please refer to Park-n-Rail Reference Guide for detailed information on how Park-n-Rail will be financed.

For an in depth look on how PPP’s operate, please take a look at Maryland Matters website article Plans to Privatize Maryland’s Highways with Toll Lanes are Not in the Public Interest for a complete analysis by Mr. Gary V. Hodge. Mr Hodge is one of the leading authorities on Maryland transportation issues.

Maryland Matters is an excellent source for transportation issues plaguing the Washington DC area.