Return to Design 95 top pageIn the past year, King County voters have been faced with big decisions about the future of the region. All across the state, a debate has been sparked leading citizens to question the relationship between themselves and their government.
The issues underlying a broad spectrum of projects are essentially the same. How can we address the widening gap between growth in the region and the existing infrastructure -- and who should foot the bill? What services, facilities, and improvements should the government finance and what, if anything, are tax payers willing to pay more for?
In today's climate of budget slashing and governmental belt-tightening, the answers to these questions are not easy to come by. Last year's elections ushered in a new tide of lawmakers focused on reducing the size and cost of government. Policy makers everywhere have been faced with the increasingly difficult task of securing support for projects and finding the resources to make them happen. The financial constraints of this atmosphere demand new approaches to old problems.
In theory, partnerships between public agencies and private industry seem to offer the ideal solution. These relationships have the potential to infuse local politics with a much-needed shot of innovation, but they are not without pitfalls.
Embarking down this road, policy makers must chart risky and virtually untested waters, requiring a high degree of political savvy and meaningful dialogue with the public. These partnerships are in no way a panacea to the ailments of modern government, but they do provide a chance at the elusive win-win situation that every policy maker dreams of.
Perhaps the best example of the potential benefits and drawbacks of these partnerships lies with the Washington State Department of Transportation's Public-Private Initiatives.
With the unanimous passage of Substitute House Bill 1006 (SHB1006) in 1993, lawmakers paved the way for new financing options in lieu of single-handedly raising the estimated $35 billion in tax revenues necessary to address congestion problems.
Through a competitive bidding process, six out of 14 proposals were selected to tackle some of the region's most pressing transportation needs.
A number of factors signaled lawmakers and investors alike that the Puget Sound was ripe for major investments in transportation. Congestion in the area has been on the rise, rivaling some of the nation's largest, most populated cities. Between 1970 and 1990, population in Washington increased by 34 percent while vehicle registration increased by 76 percent. During the same time period, vehicle miles traveled increased by 123 percent, while the total road system only increased by 7 percent.
Both the constraints of the region's geography and the lack of governmental funds had created roadblocks to simply building our way out of this situation.
The six WSDOT proposals ranged from the innocuous to the controversial. They included the construction of additional park-and-ride lots, expansion of the 520 bridge and the Tacoma Narrows bridge, improvements along SR 522 between Monroe and Woodinville, and congestion pricing on I-5. Although each of these proposals may have varied in complexity and level of support, they all required thorough public education.
Unlike the era when large transportation projects in the U.S. such as railroads or highways were built through tolls or user fees, taxpayers have recently been paying for them indirectly. This has perpetuated the illusion that roads are "free" because the true cost of infrastructure improvements have been buried in public budgets and funded through a combination of gas taxes and federal, state and local taxes.
In order to better understand the possibilities associated with these changing trends, an ongoing dialogue between the government, private industry, and the public is essential. Now, more than ever there is an opportunity to take advantage of these innovative financing solutions, but it will require a considerable level of trust.
Only by engaging the public at every step of the process can the requisite credibility be established and maintained. Open discussions and frequent, ongoing communication efforts are necessary to work out the exact nature of these relationships and to dispel fears that these new partners won't act in the public's best interest.
In the model public outreach process, many different sectors of the community are involved. Different strategies are employed to engage various affected users, a cross-section of local jurisdictions, the adjacent communities, and the general public. In addition, the special needs and concerns of small business owners and corporations are considered. This type of broad-based approach ensures that the will of no single agency or group will prevent the development of a workable solution.
In the case of the WSDOT's Public-Private Initiatives, the entire process was derailed before a full-scale public involvement effort could begin. Caught up in the pressure from special interest groups and general NIMBY sentiments, nervous politicians rewrote the rules in the middle of the game.
An augmented bill allowed any opposition group that could collect 5,000 signatures to halt the process and call for a vote of the people. Lawmakers in the 1994 legislature ensured that all six of the proposed transportation projects, except for the park-and-ride lots, would be stalled and perhaps terminated.
The most frustrating aspect of this development was that there was genuine need and support for at least some of the proposed improvements. On the Tacoma Narrows bridge it is not uncommon to experience three or four hours of congestion each day, resulting in excruciating commutes and ever-increasing stress on the existing structure.
Similarly, the 522 project was at one time thought to be promising because of the overwhelming safety concerns associated with the stretch of highway between Woodinville and Monroe.
Washington's experimentation with public-private partnerships has taught us some valuable lessons.
It is evident that there is still a lot of work to do to before these relationships will become less risky for everyone involved. Even with the most pressing public works needs, meaningful public involvement cannot be overlooked.
We need to educate the users of our transportation infrastructure and increase the voice of a number of distinct publics. Clearly this requires strong political leadership that is not immune to public outcry, but rather one that has the ability to look at solutions without drowning in the quagmire of controversy.
The public-private concept capitalizes on the government's established framework for infrastructure development and finance while it harnesses the expertise, upfront development dollars and drive of the private sector. Working in cooperation, these two distinctly different entities are able to complement each other's weaknesses and make things happen that ordinarily wouldn't have had a chance.
Navigating these relationships and balancing them with the public voice will never be a small undertaking. However, they could provide us with a forward-thinking and proactive approach to the ongoing challenges our communities face.
Melissa Shaw is an associate with O'Neill and Company, a Seattle consulting firm specializing in public involvement, strategic planning and research.