Jose Manuel Vassallo

Minimum Income Guarantee in Transportation Infrastructure Concessions in Chile

Many governments are increasing private participation in providing and financing transportation infrastructure through concession contracts. One of the main challenges in the definition of those contracts is the correct allocation of risks between the public and the private sectors. Traffic risk has usually been difficult to allocate because neither the concessionaire nor the government can reasonably control it. In addition, traffic forecasts have proved to be inaccurate. Consequently, many governments are implementing traffic risk mitigation mechanisms in concession contracts. One of these mechanisms is based on the establishment by the government of a minimum income guarantee. Results of the implementation of a minimum income guarantee in Chile are presented: 38 transportation concessions were awarded in the past 12 years. The economic crisis that struck Chile from 1998 to 2002, reducing traffic levels below forecasts, makes the analysis of the performance of that mechanism particularly interesting. De...

High-Speed Rail Versus Air Transportation: Case Study of Madrid–Barcelona, Spain.

Travel time savings, better quality of supplied services, greater comfort for users, and improved accessibility are the main factors of success for high-speed rail (HSR) links. In this paper, results are presented from a revealed and stated preference survey concerning HSR and air transport users in the Madrid–Barcelona, Spain, corridor. The data gathered from the stated preference survey were used to calibrate a modal choice model aimed at explaining competition between HSR and air transportation in the corridor. The major findings of the paper describe the demand response to different policy scenarios considering improvements in the level of transport services. From the model, prices and service frequency were found to be among the most important variables in competing with the other mode. In addition, it was found that check-in and security controls at the airport are a crucial variable for users in making their modal choices. Other policies, such as the improvement of parking facilities at train stations, play a secondary role.

Impact of the Economic Recession on Toll Highway Concessions in Spain

After joining the European Union in 1986, Spain experienced steady economic growth that enabled the country to grow at a greater pace than other European countries. During this period, the government of Spain opted for major investments in public infrastructure by taking advantage both of the funding provided by the European Union and of several types of public-private-partnership (PPP) approaches. Within this framework, the government of Spain between 1996 and 2004 procured a series of toll highway concessions. These concessions entered into operation a few years before the global economic recession made itself felt in Spain. The concession contracts signed between the government and some private consortia allocated most of the risks (expropriation, construction, and traffic) to the private sector. In this paper the impact that the economic recession has had on the business performance of the concessionaires is assessed, and the effectiveness of the measures adopted by the government to help the concessionaire to avoid bankruptcy is analyzed. It was found that some of the guarantees offered by the legal framework to the concessionaires in case of bankruptcy are prompting an outcome that could negatively affect the users. In addition to that, some suggestions as to how to better allocate risk in toll highway concessions in the future are provided

Sustainability Assessment of Transport Infrastructure Projects: A Review of Existing Tools and Methods

Abstract Attempts to integrate sustainability in the decision-making process for transport infrastructure projects continue to gain momentum. A number of tools and methodological frameworks are available — such as rating systems, traditional decision-making techniques, checklists, and different evaluation frameworks and models. While these tools are highly valuable, some practical issues remain unsolved. There is also a need for more standardized tools to appraise the sustainability of transport projects. This paper is a presentation of a review on the current assessment tools of sustainability applied to transport infrastructure projects. The preliminary part of the paper is an explanatory and comparative analysis of the tools and methods in terms of their effectiveness to appraise sustainability. The analysis is a critical evaluation of the current state of the art to identify the limitations of existing approaches, point out new areas of research, and propose a sustainability appraisal agenda for the future.

Analysis of House Prices to Assess Economic Impacts of New Public Transport Infrastructure: Madrid Metro Line 12

Transportation infrastructure is known to affect the value of real estate property by virtue of changes in accessibility. The impact of transportation facilities is highly localized as well, and it is possible that spillover effects result from the capitalization of accessibility. The objective of this study was to review the theoretical background related to spatial hedonic models and the opportunities that they provided to evaluate the effect of new transportation infrastructure. An empirical case study is presented: the Madrid Metro Line 12, known as Metrosur, in the region of Madrid, Spain. The effect of proximity to metro stations on housing prices was evaluated. The analysis took into account a host of variables, including structure, location, and neighborhood and made use of three modeling approaches: linear regression estimation with ordinary least squares, spatial error, and spatial lag. The results indicated that better accessibility to Metrosur stations had a positive impact on real estate values and that the effect was marked in cases in which a house was for sale. The results also showed the presence of submarkets, which were well defined by geographic boundaries, and transport fares, which implied that the economic benefits differed across municipalities.

Are Longer and Heavier Vehicles (LHVs) Beneficial for Society? A Cost Benefit Analysis to Evaluate their Potential Implementation in Spain

Abstract In this paper we carry out a thorough review of the current research related to the benefits and costs arising from the implementation of longer and heavier vehicles (LHVs). From this review we concluded that despite the many studies available, little has been said about the sensitivity of the benefits and costs to the ultimate performance of the key variables related to the evolution of the economy, road transport performance, safety, and so on. In order to fill this gap, we have designed a sensitivity approach based on a cost benefit analysis tool to determine which variables demonstrate the greatest influence on the benefits and costs stemming from the implementation of LHVs. In order to test the methodology, we have used it in an analysis of the Spanish trunk network. The results show that the benefits of LHVs for society are significant. Even in the least favorable scenario, the economic benefits are greater than €3500 million over 15 years, and the environment enhanced as well, for CO2 emissions are reduced by 2 Million tonnes. Overall we noted how the results are not very sensitive to the evolution of key variables in determining the final outcome. However, we found that the variables that have the greatest affect on the final benefit, such as traffic growth and social discount rate, depend basically on the performance of the overall economy. Moreover, the private cost for haulers seems to be more important in determining the final benefit than externality costs.

Comparative Analysis of Road Financing Approaches in Europe and the United States

Road infrastructure has a remarkable economic and social impact on society. This is the reason why road financing has always drawn the attention of policy makers, especially when resources available for government spending become scarce. Nations exhibit differing approaches toward dealing with road transportation financing. In the United States, the current system of road financing has been called into question, for some regard it as insufficient to meet the necessary amounts required for road expenditure. By contrast, in most European countries, road charges are very high, but are not earmarked for the funding of roads. This paper analyzes, the balance between charging for the use of, and expenditure on, the road sector in the United States, and compares the American policy with those of several European countries (Germany, United Kingdom, France, Spain, and Switzerland). To that end, the authors define a methodology to calculate the annual amount of fee-charges levied on light and heavy vehicles in the selected countries, in order to compare those charges with the annual road expenditure. The results show that road charges in America are noticeably lower than those paid in Europe. Additionally, the research concludes that, in Europe, road-generated revenues exceed road expenditure in all countries studied, so road charges actually subsidize other policies. By contrast, in the United States the public sector subsidizes the road system in order to maintain the current level of expenditure.

Contractual PPPs for Transport Infrastructure in Spain: Lessons from the Economic Recession

Abstract In this paper, we analyse the successes and failures of contractual public-private partnerships (PPPs) for delivering and operating transport infrastructure in Spain from the award of the first toll highway concession programme to the present. To that end, we show the risk allocation principles used in Spain and explore the evolution of the contracting approaches over the years. We found that the performance was reasonably good until the arrival of the economic crisis in 2008. Taking advantage of that, we make a review of contractual PPPs for different transport modes and assess the impact that the economic crisis has had on their business performance and the capacity of the central and regional governments to fulfil their commitments with the private sector. This analysis enabled us to identify measures that, if had been applied, would have improved the resilience of these contract during the economic crisis.

Thermal Sensitivity and Fatigue Life of Gap-Graded Asphalt Mixes Incorporating Crumb Rubber from Tire Waste:

The most usual asphalt mix applied for thin overlays on Spanish roads is produced with a gap-graded combination of aggregates and a polymer-modified binder. Nevertheless, reflective cracking usually affects the overlay so that the surface of the pavement soon begins to reveal a network of cracks. The brittleness and aging of asphalt mixes at low temperatures encourage the appearance and progress of these cracks. Asphalt mixes incorporating rubber from discarded tires are believed to control reflective cracking well. This paper presents a study performed on five gap-graded asphalt mixes, three containing rubber from tire waste. Every mix was tested at two stages of aging in accordance with the laboratory-accelerated aging processes proposed by SHRP. Dynamic moduli at several temperatures, ranging from −15°C to 40°C, and the fatigue life of each mix at 20°C were measured. The results are provided to help researchers build realistic models for studying reflective cracking as a function of the actual characteristics of the materials. The results show that the tire rubber, especially when incorporated by the wet process, enhances the fatigue life of the mixes. The thermal sensitivity of the mix decreases as the content of rubber arises, regardless of whether the rubber has been incorporated by the wet or the dry process. In addition, the paper reports the difficulties with the SHRP accelerated aging processes and raises some doubts about these aging processes when applied to rubberized asphalt mixes.

Risk Allocation in Toll Highway Concessions in Spain: Lessons from Economic Recession

Spain has a long tradition of encouraging toll highways by granting concessions to private companies. Concessions in Spain have been characterized by a willingness to transfer considerable risk to the private sector. Traffic demand, acquisition of the right-of-way, and financial risk have often been allocated to the private sector. From 1996 to 2011, 16 toll highway concessions, covering a total distance of 835 km, were awarded by the central government of Spain with this approach. Some of those highways started their operations just before the economic recession began. The recession had negative consequences for Spains economy. The gross domestic product per capita plummeted, and the unemployment rate increased from 9% to 20% of the working population in just 2 years. The recession also had severe consequences for the economic performance of toll highway concessions. Traffic levels declined at a much greater rate than did the gross domestic product. In addition, the conditions imposed by the financial markets on borrowers became much stricter because of the liquidity crisis. This study analyzes the impact that the economic recession ultimately had on the performance of toll highway concessions in Spain and the actions that the government adopted to avoid the bankruptcy of the concessionaires. It was found that the economic recession helped identify some deficiencies in how risk had been allocated in Spain. The measures that both Spain and the European Union are adopting so as to improve risk allocation are discussed.