The Infrastructure Crisis and Private Highways

The National Center for Metropolitan Transportation Research (METRANS) is pleased to announce: Jose Gomez-Ibanez, the Derek C. Bok Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, will present a special 10th Anniversary Seminar March 12, 2009 at noon in Lewis Hall 101 at USC."The Infrastructure Crisis and Private Highways"Jose Gomez-Ibanez, Derek C. Bok Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy
Kennedy School, Harvard UniversityABSTRACT: Infrastructure policy in the US appears to be at an impasse. On the one hand, most experts agree that we need to invest more in highways and other forms of infrastructure. On the other hand, the public has been reluctant to increase gas taxes, tolls or otherwise increase infrastructure funding. Some have argued that private provision of highways can help break the impasse by tapping private financing or providing the political cover to raise tolls or taxes. But these are not very compelling reasons to have private highways. The more compelling reason is if the private operation can reduce real costs or provide a better quality of service.BIO: Jose A. Gomez-Ibanez is the Derek C. Bok Professor of Urban Planning and Public Policy at Harvard University, where he holds a joint appointment at the Graduate School of Design and the John F. Kennedy School of Government. He teaches courses in economics, infrastructure and transportation policy in both schools. Professor Gomez-Ibanez research interests are in transportation, infrastructure, and economic development, and he has authored or edited a half dozen books including:Regulating Infrastructure: Monopoly, Contracts and Discretion (Harvard University Press, 2003);
Essays in Transportation Economics and Policy: A Handbook in Honor of John R. Meyer (with William Tye and Clifford Winston, Brookings Institution Press, 1999); Going Private: The International Experience with Transport Privatization (with John R. Meyer, Brookings Institution Press, 1993); Regulation for Revenue: The Political Economy of Land Use Exactions (with Alan Altshuler, Brookings Institution Press, 1993); Autos, Transit and Cities (with John R. Meyer, Harvard University Press, 1981); and
Cases in Microeconomics (with Joseph Kalt, Prentice-Hall, 1990). At Harvard, Professor Gomez-Ibanez currently serves as the faculty co-chair (with Henry Lee) of the Infrastructure in a Market Economy executive program at the Kennedy School. In the past he has been the faculty chair of the Masters in Urban Planning Program at the Design School (2001-2004), of the Masters in Public Policy Program at the Kennedy School (1996-1998), of doctoral programs at the Design School (1992-1995), and of the Department of Urban Planning and Design at the Design School (1984-1988).Professor Gomez-Ibanez received his A.B. in government from Harvard College in 1970 and his M.P.P. and Ph.D. in Public Policy from Harvard in 1972 and 1975, respectively.

Location: Ralph And Goldy Lewis Hall (RGL) - 101

Audiences: Everyone Is Invited

Contact: Georgia Lum