Assessment of Public Perceptions of Innovative Financing for Infrastructure

Traditional financing approaches, such as federal and state grants funded by taxation, are no longer sufficient to address the ever-growing need for sustaining and restoring the civil infrastructure in the U.S. Innovative financing approaches (such as novel public private partnership models, credit enhancement tools, and new bond instruments) have emerged to complement traditional approaches in sustaining and improving civil infrastructures. However, public support is critical to the success of innovative financing approaches, and thus an assessment of public perceptions is an essential consideration in the implementation of sustainable infrastructure financing policies. The objective of this paper is to analyze the four dimensions of public perceptions and their implications for policymaking as they relate to innovative financing of civil infrastructure. The factors affecting public perceptions include: economic conditions such as the gross domestic product and the unemployment rate; infrastructure conditions such as the percentage of infrastructure facilities in structurally deficient condition; and personal characteristics such as income, gender, and education. In this paper we assess how these factors affect the knowledge, awareness, and perceptions of the public regarding infrastructure development and financing. Statistical models are estimated using data collected from the general public in all 50 states in the U.S. through a web-based survey, data obtained from the scorecard of the U.S. infrastructure developed by the American Society of Civil Engineers and economic data obtained from the Bureau of Economic Analysis. Based on the findings of the statistical analysis, recommendations are provided to infrastructure sponsor organizations relating to educating the public to enhance public knowledge and awareness and designing financing structures that are consistent with the prevailing public perceptions.