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A Public/Public Partnership is an agreement between two public organizations, where the goal of both parties is to bring about more effective and efficient delivery of a service, with neither party seeking financial profit. In July 2007 the Pennsylvania legislature addressed the transportation funding challenge by passing Act 44, a historic and innovative strategy that authorized a 50-year Public/Public Partnership between the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) and the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT).
Under Act 44, the PTC will provide PennDot with more than $83 billion, including money from proposed I-80 tolls, over a 50-year period for transportation maintenance and improvements in Pennsylvania. In addition, this Public/Public Partnership allows the Commonwealth to retain a valuable public asset and reinvest revenue into the state's transportation infrastructure. A recent independent study found that:
- Given comparable toll schedules and operating expenses, the cost of capital becomes the most significant value driver for the operator of the Turnpike.
- A long-term Corporate Lease is likely to be a far less efficient strategy for generating funding than the current Act 44 payment stream, or a Full Public Monetization by the PTC.
- The Act 44 payments have a present value that is nearly 80% higher than the expected one-time payment under a Corporate Lease.
- In raising an enormous sum of cash through a one-shot Corporate Lease or Full Public Monetization, the risks – reinvestment, redirection and financial – are far greater than the risk of funding under Act 44 on a pay-as you go-basis by the PTC.
- There are important policy advantages to retaining governmental control of the Turnpike as a strategic asset rather than ceding it to the private sector for decades to come.
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 Act 44 Status
Revenue Sources
The I-80 Project
Act 44 is Working
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