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Projects have not yet been identified to
be assisted by the West Coast Infrastructure Exchange (WCX). During the start-up
phase, committees are assembling criteria, discussing how to best prioritize
projects, and weighing what sorts of services would be offered. An exchange
manager will be hired to help guide that effort.
Once evaluation criteria are established and the WCX menu of services is
finalized, the Exchange will begin soliciting for governments to interact with
the exchange about project management expertise, managing community-scale
projects and connecting with financing options.
Participating states and British Columbia
have identified small-scale energy and water projects as the categories for
likely pilot projects.
The WCX aims to promote innovation in
infrastructure finance and delivery through performance-based partnerships. (Learn
the difference between traditional and performance-based projects).
This approach may not be the best answer for every infrastructure project. For
the right projects, both large and small, this approach can stretch taxpayer
investments, keep infrastructure public and effectively engage private sector
expertise and capital.
Some projects already constructed, or in the process of construction, can offer
ideas of how innovative financing and management structures can help to make
critical projects more feasible.
The examples listed are large in scale,
but the goal of the Exchange is to help make projects of all sizes more
feasible.
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Washington
Photo: http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR520Bridge/default.htm
Highway 520 bridge
SR 520 bridge deploys variable time-of-day pricing to raise revenue and
has had an immediate effect of reducing congestion on SR 520, although
with some increased congestion on competing routes.
Learn more:
www.wsdot.wa.gov/Tolling/520tollingbackground.htm
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Oregon
Portland Airport Light Rail Project
Extension of light rail to the Portland International Airport in 2001
utilized the performance-based, design-build contracting method reduced
project cost. Using an integrated design and construction methodology
allowed the development team to optimize construction financing. Along
with already-dedicated rights-of-way, the result was a project that cost
approximately one-third as much as a light rail project of similar
length started two years later.
Learn more:
 trimet.org/pdfs/history/railfactsheetairport.pdf
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British Columbia
Sea-to-Sky Highway
Major improvements of the Sea-to-Sky highway between Horseshoe Bay and
Whistler to improve its safety, reliability and capacity. The project,
completed in 2009, was constructed by the Ministry of Transportation and
Infrastructure. Partnerships BC brought private sector expertise to the
project as a procurement manager, which helped to accelerate the
timeframe.
Learn more:
www.partnershipsbc.ca/files-4/project-seatosky.php
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Smaller Project
Bundling
There are many small but important infrastructure projects -- like
water, energy efficient buildings and street lighting -- that are
difficult to finance and implement. The financing obstacles are first,
that the projects are of small enough scale that the costs of financing
make up a relatively high proportion of the project’s overall budget.
The second type of funding obstacle is creditworthiness. Projects may be
too large, or too dependent on a single rate-payer, for the individual
city or special district to qualify for inexpensive financing.
Innovative solutions are emerging however, which take advantage of
economies of scale and create special districts to consolidate projects
that can be combined for financing, purchasing, and contracting. These
approaches can create a diversification of risk to make the projects
feasible together, when they would not have been standing alone.
Boston's municipal lighting program, done in partnership with AFSCME, is
one example.
Learn more:
www.cityofboston.gov/publicworks/lighting/led.asp
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