Overview

Across Michigan, cash-strapped governments are struggling to plug gaping holes in their budgets. At the same time, Michigan’s roads and bridges are increasingly congested and in desperate need of repair.

Enter global private infrastructure companies and their backers in the world of investment banking. Touting the benefits of “public-private partnerships,” these companies are seeking to build new private highways or offering upfront cash for existing roads … all in exchange for the right to charge and collect tolls on motorists for decades to come.

Road privatization offers a hard-to-resist “quick fix” for state budget and transportation challenges. But there are hidden costs to privatization … and big potential downsides for the public.

See our complete factsheet.

To protect the public interest, state and local governments should avoid privatization of existing roadways, and allow for private construction of new roadways only under the following conditions:

• The public should retain control over decisions about transportation planning and management.

• The public must receive fair value so future toll revenues won’t be sold off at a discount.

• No deal should last longer than 30 years because of uncertainty over future conditions and because the risks of a bad deal grow exponentially over time.

• Contracts should require state-of-the-art maintenance and safety standards instead of statewide minimums.

• There must be complete transparency to ensure proper public vetting of privatization proposals.

• There must be full accountability in which the legislature must approve the terms of a final deal, not just approve that a deal be negotiated.