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In many countries the private sector has been involved in financing infrastructure through concessions under a public-private partnership (PPP) program. PPP projects, however, are somewhat underutilized in countries with transition economies, where financing gaps are significant and growing, and there seems to be enormous potential for more private-sector involvement in the financing and operation of highway assets in such countries. The reasons for the low rate of private financing of roads in transition economies include relatively low traffic volumes, lack of appropriate legal frameworks, economic and political instability, and the consequently high perception of risk. As traffic increases on key roads, new legislation is enacted, and institutions and economic growth become more sustainable: it is likely that this sector of transition economies will become more attractive to private investors. This paper reviews the legal framework required for attracting private capital for PPP projects, possible steps that could allow a country to launch a PPP program for highways, the concept of greenfield and road maintenance concession programs, public-sector comparators, competitive selection of concessionaires, and the use of partial risk guarantees to mitigate risks. It also summarizes potential applications of the World Bank Toolkit for PPP in Highways as an instrument to help decision makers and practitioners screen potential PPP projects and define the best approach for a specific country.

Life cycle assessment (LCA) tools have been used by governments and city administrators to support the decision-making process toward creating a more sustainable society. Since LCA is strongly influenced by local conditions and may vary according to various factors, several institutions have launched cooperation projects to achieve sustainable development goals. In this study, we assessed the potential environmental enhancements within the production of road materials applied to the road network of Münster, Germany. We also compared traditional pavement structures used in Münster and alternative options containing asphalt mixtures with larger amounts of reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP). Although the case study was conducted in Münster, the data collected and the results obtained in this study can be used for comparison purposes in other investigations. In the analysis, we considered all environmental impacts from raw material extraction to the finished product at the asphalt plant. Two environmental indicators were used: non-renewable cumulative energy demand (nr-CED) and global warming potential (GWP). The results show that using RAP increases the consumption of energy but potentially decreases the environmental impacts in terms of the nr-CED and GWP associated with the production of asphalt materials.

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Private participation in roads revived strongly in transition and developing countries between 2005 and 2008, growing during the period from US$6.2 billion to US$16.4 billion a year, a new historic peak. However, in view of the recent global financial crisis, there has been some retraction of private financing resulting in an investment of US$15.8 billion in 2009. Driving policy-makers' renewed interest in attracting private financing for roads is the need for greater investments to keep road networks in an acceptable condition and carry out social and economic expansion plans in a context of public budget constraints. An analysis is presented of recent trends in road projects with private participation in developing and transition economies, in view of the policies and models adopted by these countries. A procedure for estimating the minimum toll rates required to attract private investors is also presented.