So there was an election this week in which an estimated 24 percent of registered voters participated. Pretty depressing.
But there was also a ton of transit and transportation news we couldn’t get around to covering. So we present it here. Catch up time!
Gary Reese, one of the pixel-stained wretches at InsiderAdvantage, pulls back the curtain on a piece he’s researching about the state Department of Transportation’s vote to kill a Ga. 400 project. He says it’s a “blockbuster” and one to watch.
Reese offers a lengthy 1,551-word teaser. Essentially: There’s a bigger story behind the DOT board’s decision late last year to kill a deal proposed for the “Hospitality Highway.”
He says there are a bunch of e-mails and potentially ghostwritten press releases, too. CL readers might recall a story I wrote last year about Gov. Sonny Perdue’s trip to Spain, and rumors that the jaunt would include a sit-down with executives from Cintra, everyone’s favorite private toll road company. (Perdue did indeed sit down with the firm.) Reese says Cintra — along with some other big names in finance and transportation — will play a role in his story, as well.
In this week’s paper, CL takes a look at privatized roads, an increasingly popular practice in which a for-profit company takes control of or builds a new road, raises tolls, and usually makes a jaw-dropping windfall from the agreement. States love ‘em because they get a big bag o’ cash upfront that they can in turn invest in other projects. Sounds attractive but they’re rife with risk.
We received word from a trusted tipster that Perdue would meet with executives from Cintra, a Spanish company considered a global leader in privatized roads, during an upcoming jaunt to Europe sponsored by the state’s Department of Economic Development. At press time, department officials weren’t able to confirm if that was the case.
Now they can. From the governor’s office:
The Madrid portion of the trip includes a number of transportation-related meetings, including a visit with executives from Cintra, a Spanish company that is a world leader in developing transportation infrastructure. The delegation will also tour two Spanish public/private road projects and meet with SEOPAN, the Spanish Transportation Association. Governor Perdue will also call on a number of Spanish companies in the region.
Full release follows after the jump.
What current Georgia governor is leavin’ on a jet plane at the end of the month for the sandy beaches of Spain? Sources say the state’s jovial chief executive is being joined by Dick Anderson, the executive director of the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority. We’re sure it’ll be a nice couple days of handshakes and back slaps, maybe a bullfight or two.
But the interesting item apparently on their agenda? A sit-down with executives from Cintra, a Spanish company that’s considered the tops when it comes to privatized roads. (That’s when a company gives a big bag o’ cash to the state and either takes over operations of a well-traveled road or builds a new one, sets tolls, and reaps the revenue.)
Maybe the firm would just handle the HOV-to-HOT lane conversion of which the AJC’s Ariel Hart broke the news today. Regardless, it wouldn’t be a new topic for this current state governor. Sources say this particular resident of West Paces Ferry braved the wild winds during Hurricane Ike to visit Dallas, Texas, a city that recently dipped its toes in the “privatized road” morass. Word is that this outgoing bigwig from the executive branch is eager to end his two terms with a bang — and toss a life preserver to the state that’s nearly $1.6 billion in the hole.
But at what cost, Gov. Punny Serdoo?
Many people’s eyes rolled when state Rep. Vance Smith was announced as the chief competition to Gena Abraham in the GDOT commissioner race — after all, he owns a construction and grading company, and that meant he would bulldoze and build mercilessly, right? But he very well could have been a saving grace for a region lacking in transit options and awash in pavement. Abraham, who was approved on Wednesday as commissioner-elect, also comes from a construction background but has experience in engineering and academia, and as of late, has been touting public-private initiatives — calling them “definitely something we have to do” at a press Q&A yesterday. PPIs the DOT is currently pursuing or considering involve roads and lanes rather than rails and trains.
Which made this little snippet from Dick Pettys’ InsiderAdvantage Georgia piece from yesterday interesting …
For sure, Democrats are just as mad. They had thrown in with the Republican leadership in an effort to sway the election to [state Rep. Vance] Smith, who had promised to give due consideration to some of their key transportation goals – mass transit and multi-modal operations for Atlanta.
