March 30, 2022
The $1.2 trillion U.S. infrastructure bill signed into law late in 2021 holds the promise of long-awaited improvements to roads, bridges, and ports—along with better public transit and expanded access to broadband Internet. It’s also ripe with opportunities for the public and private sectors to collaborate.
“There is an acceptance of leveraging private capital and public-private partnerships (P3s) in a way that we had not seen previously,” says Tariq Taherbhai, chief operating officer, global construction and infrastructure, at Aon. “The loan programs that support P3s are being expanded and funds are being made available to support governments looking at P3s. The advantages of these types of projects will be investigated more seriously than they had been in the past.”
Despite the benefits, P3s sometimes encounter roadblocks. “Where we see P3s fail are ones where there hasn’t been enough local community engagement,” says Taherbhai. “In the U.S., you have to think about the political forces and whether there’s enough local support for the project.”
With the right approach from both sides, P3s are an important initiative that expands the impact of the government investment and provides the U.S. with infrastructure fit for the 21st century.
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