The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Agency (Metro) awarded a Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) Advisory Contract to a team of firms to advise it regarding selection and initial implementation of projects that could include some of the first privately financed rail transit lines in the United States. The team, led by InfraConsult LLC, and including Halcrow, will assess highway and transit projects in Metro’s long-range plan to determine which can be accelerated or delivered more cost-effectively by using various forms of public-private partnerships. Projects under consideration include the more than 50 projects in the Metro’s long-range plan.

Halcrow will serve as a member of the integrated advisory team from the initial project screening through due diligence and detailed assessment of technical risks ranging from constructability to systems integration, cost, and schedule. The three-year contract concludes with initial procurement work, and development of technical specifications, contract terms, and work scope for projects that are selected to proceed.

Since 1984, Halcrow has provided technical services on nearly 400 PPP assignments worldwide, and has served recently as technical adviser on major public-private rail transit projects in the United Kingdom, Ireland, Vietnam, and the Philippines. In the United States, the Metro contract builds on Halcrow’s experience as adviser for innovative delivery methods to the Texas and Virginia departments of transportation and the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey.