RosenbergOilAlternativesResearchAnnotation3

Freemark, Yonah. "Finding an Appropriate Role for PPPs in the Infrastructure-Creation Process."//The Transport Politic//. 2 Apr. 2010. Web. 13 Apr. 2011.   2. Where does the author work, what else has s/he written about, and what are her/his credentials? ** The author, Yonah Freemark, is an independent researcher working on urban development projects in France. He graduated from Yale in May 2008 with a B.A. in Architecture, and is abroad on a Gordon Grand Fellowship. ( [])  In addition to contributing a piece to the Huffington Post on highway projects built with stimulus money, Yonah is also the editor and writer for The Transport Politic, the blog on which the article was posted. In the past, his posts have extensively detailed issues within the transportation industry, comprising such categories as financing, politics, and technology, with a particular focus on high-speed rail proposals. Yonah also has a Twitter feed, on which he posts links to various articles considering high-speed rail, bus, and other public transportation projects ( []). 3. What is the main topic or argument of the text? ** The piece primarily argues that although California will likely be able to leverage substantial public-private partnerships (PPPs) in the process of constructing its high-speed rail system, it should place careful imitations on the implementation of these arrangements such that the interests of the public are taken into account. 4. Describe at least three ways that the main topic or argument is fleshed out. ** The text opens by making reference to an example of how PPPs have been utilized in France to fund and maintain the Sud Europe Atlantique line between Paris and Bordeaux. In this case, one-quarter of the $10 billion cost will be covered by the government’s stimulus funds, one-quarter by the regions and cities which are affected by the line, and one-half by the contractor VINCI, which has received a 50 year concession for the project. Following from such an example, it is then proposed that one must be careful to consider whose interests are represented when private ownership is involved. Arguments are presented in favor of the involvement of the private-sector, among them decreasing tax revenue, the tendency of businesses to reduce delays, the lack of political influences, and the transfer of risk away from the taxpayer. However, cases in Taiwan and the United Kingdom are cited to demonstrate that the risk may be transferred back to taxpayers in the event that these firms are bankrupted by the project due to high interest rates on loans. In addition, it is suggested that a private actor would be more interested in the profit incentive, which would require charging higher train fares and lowering ridership. This may have the result of doing little to resolve concerns of pollution and congestion which have been behind the project. Despite these concerns, suggestions are made for means by which to include private actors without compromising these goals. For instance, real estate adjacent to the tracks could be sold for development purposes, and corporations could be involved in a more limited sense in the construction elements. 5. What three quotes capture the critical import of the text? **  1)   “…Oliver Hauck, president of **Siemens Mobility USA**   … (articulated)   his own company’s interest in accepting “  //some of the risk inherent in financing this major upgrade to the American transportation system //  ” through a public-private partnership (PPP) … similar excitement about contributing private sector funds to the project have come from ** French railroad operator SNCF ** and ** JR Central **, one of Japan’s preeminent carriers.”      2)   “ The  //other half //  of construction costs will come from VINCI, which has made the commitment in return for the right to collect track fees on high-speed TGVs using the line. The company clearly thinks the investment is a profitable proposition on a long-term timetable. The Sud Europe Atlantique project becomes one of the largest PPPs in Europe ever. It will likely attract three million additional annual riders between Paris and Bordeaux (from around 16 million today) once the corridor opens for service in 2016. The existing line will be opened to increased commuter and freight rail services.” 3)  “The California Authority has compared ridership and revenues in scenarios with fares set at both 50% and 83% of airline ticket prices; lower train fares would attract almost twenty million more annual passengers than would higher prices — but profit would be slightly lower.”    6. Explain how the argument and evidence in the text supports your research focus.   **  With the substantial cost of investment in high-speed rail options, it is useful to examine the potential sources of funding which may permit the promulgation of these opportunities. While generating concerns and controversy, PPPs may open the door for larger scale collaborative efforts which would enable the leveraging of specific sets of expertise that the public sector may not possess; for instance, sub-contracting, specialized engineering skill sets, and greater access to global markets. However, it is important to consider the conflicting sets of interests between public and private actors, such as in the areas of profit, environmental preservation, and economic development. In this sense, there is likely to be some difficulty in ensuring that each of the represented parties sees its goals met in a desirable fashion. 7. List at least two details or references from the text that will be useful to other members of your research group  ** 1) In the case of the California project, the cost of the first stage between Anaheim, Los Angeles, and San Francisco is estimated to be $43 billion, of which $12 billion is expected to be contributed by private sources. 2) In the French project, travel times are expected to be reduced between Paris and Bordeaux from three hours to just over two hours, at a cost of $10 billion. Half of this amount, or about $5 billion, is being contributed by the contractor VINCI. It is additionally expected that ridership will increase by as much as three million annual riders upon the project’s completion around 2016, which would increase the total ridership from 16 million at present to about 19 million.
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