08-20-2015, 11:24 AM
(08-19-2015, 08:25 PM)tomh009 Wrote:(08-19-2015, 08:04 PM)numberguy Wrote: For the intermodal hub, the question remains: where will the money come from? A private developer? If so, what is in it for them? How do we attract such a partner without being gouged a la the 407 (as an extreme example)It's a different venture than something like 407, where users pay tolls.
But the simplest approach for this would be for the region to lease the land to the private company for X years (20? 50? 100?), with the developer in turn providing space for the station operations. The money they make on retail, office or residential space would be the private company's, and that would be the reason for the company to be involved.
Keep it simple and there are far fewer opportunities to make a bad deal by mistake.
The comparison with the 407 is that it was built as a piece of public infrastructure but its revenue stream goes to the (mostly) private bondholders and owners. That's the danger with using private funds to finance public works: does the public end up getting gouged? For all intents and purposes, the project is risk free (no beta) as it is backstopped by the taxpayer. And yet, all the profit goes to the private investor.
Combine that with any sort of service that is a natural monopoly (IE, electrical power transmission) or with a massive barrier to entrance (mega project highways) and you end up with a formula for private profit on the back of the public taxpayer.
I would love to see any lease proposal and the ROI calculations for any such proposal.