Public-Private Partnerships

At a time when public finances are severely constrained but demand for improved infrastructure is growing, public-private partnerships (P3) offer an attractive alternative for financing and operating California infrastructure. While P3 methods won’t be appropriate for all projects, and clear rules and supervision are necessary, they have been extensively and successfully used by a variety of other jurisdictions in the U.S. and around the world. Several Economic Institute studies assess the potential for P3 projects in California and the conditions under which the state is likely to attract investors.

• Accelerating Job Creation in California Through Infrastructure Investment: Opportunities for Infrastructure Asset Formation and Job Creation Using Public-Private Partnership Procurement Methods
  —January 2012 (PDF: 21 pages, 746 KB)
• Framework Conditions for Foreign and Domestic Private Investment in California’s Infrastructure: Seizing the P3 Opportunity
  —September 2010 (PDF: 44 pages, 1 MB)
• Public-Private Partnerships: Alternative Procurement Methods for Campus Development in the University of California System
  —June 2010 (PDF: 25 pages, 1.3 MB)
• Investing in California’s Infrastructure:
  How to Ensure Value for Money and Protect California’s Competitive Position in the National and Global Economy
  —June 2006 (PDF: 76 pages, 997 KB)

Airports

The Bay Area’s international airport system—San Francisco International, San Jose International, and Oakland International—provides a critical link for the Bay Area to the national and global economy. Bay Area Economic Forum reports assess the economic contribution of the regional airport system to the Bay Area’s economy, and address related policy issues.

• Economic Impacts of Competitive Air Service at San Francisco International Airport
  Growing air traffic at SFO is a positive sign for the recovery of the Bay Area economy.
  —November 2004 (PDF: 8 pages 448 KB)
• Air Transport and the Bay Area Economy—
  Crisis in Air Travel: Weathering the Downturn
  An examination of the decline in air transportation in 2001, particularly post September 11; its impact on airport operations, costs and services; and the economic effects of Bay Area communities heavily dependent on vacation and business travel.
  —January 2002 (PDF: 23 pages 249 KB)
• Air Transport and the Bay Area Economy—Phase Two
  An economic analysis of projected demand for air service in the Bay Area, the adequacy of regional airport infrastructure to meet future demand, and the implications for the Bay Area economy of growing airport congestion.
  —November 2000 (PDF: 52 pgs 653 KB)
• Air Transport and the Bay Area Economy—Phase One
  A baseline economic impact report on Bay Area international airports, their relation to jobs and global competitiveness, and recommendatioins for future analysis.
  —January 2000 (PDF: 57 pgs 596 KB)

Water

A functioning regional economy requires a secure water supply. Bay Area Economic Forum reports analyze the San Francisco Public Utility Commission’s Hetch Hetchy water system, water use by major sectors of the regional economy, and the regional economic implications of a potential system failure due to earthquake or another catastrophic event.

• San Francisco Public Utilities Commission
  Measures to Reduce the Economic Impacts of a Drought-Induced Water Shortage in the SF Bay Area
  This report by the Bay Area Economic Forum and Public Financial Management, prepared for the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission, analyzes the potential economic costs of drought-induced water cutbacks in the Hetch Hetchy system and options for how to mitigate them.
  —May 2007 (PDF: 53 pages, 477 KB)
• Hetch Hetchy Water and the Bay Area Economy
  This report concludes that the Bay Area economy is at major risk, due to the deteriorating condition and vulnerability of the Hetch Hetchy system to a major seismic event.
  —October 2002 (PDF: 60 pages, 2.3 Mb)

Transportation

Expanded water transit, using high-speed ferries, offers an important opportunity to increase regional mobility. The Bay Area Water Transit Initiative, managed by the Bay Area Council and the Bay Area Economic Forum, led to the creation of the Bay Area Water Transit Authority (www.watertransit.org), and an operational plan completed in December 2002 for the development of a comprehensive regional water transit system.