Privatization

Crew in orange safety vests stand on roadway next to orange heavy equipment

Opinion: The Slippery Slope of Privatizing Public Works

The Biden administration is changing course on a century of policy in public works ownership and management, signaling a concerning shift toward privately owned, profit-driven utilities and other essential services.

May 12, 2023 - The New York Times

Old Courthouse in Denton, Texas

Denton Plans to Replace Most Bus Routes With On-Demand Microtransit

Transit advocates worry that outsourcing fixed-route service will decrease service levels and raise costs for riders.

July 30, 2021 - TransitCenter

Los Angeles Homeless

The Battle for Public Space: Business Owners vs. Homeless Residents

The role of business improvement districts in criminalizing homelessness reflects a tension between private interests and public space, Rob Waters writes.

March 18, 2019 - Next City

Internet Infrastructure

Private Telcos More Expensive Than Municipal Broadband 85% of the Time

A Harvard study found that, in 27 communities and cities with both private and city owned internet, the municipal broadband was almost always cheaper.

January 18, 2018 - Boing Boing

Greensboro Station on Metro's Silver line near Tyson's Corner

D.C. Metro Considering Privatization of Operations and Maintenance on New Silver Line

A proposal to privatize operations and maintenance of stations and track on the Silver Line has taken an initial, tentative step forward.

January 12, 2018 - The Washington Post

New York Department of Sanitation

Private Garbage Collections a Deadly Business for Employees and Pedestrians

Tired drivers working long hours in damaged trucks makes private garbage collection a dangerous business.

January 8, 2018 - Pro Publica

Lyft

Next Steps in Lyft's 'Evolution': Public Partnerships, Fixed Routes, Autonomous Fleets

Lyft's Emily Castor Warren situates the company's newest initiatives within the "rapid pace of innovation" occurring in transportation.

October 1, 2017 - The Planning Report

transportation

Trump's Infrastructure Plan a Boon for Private Interests

President Trump's proposed infrastructure plans intends to shift ownership of much of America's infrastructure into private hands. Rebecca Burns argues that this approach will benefit the country's richest at the expense of the rest of the country.

July 31, 2017 - In These Times

Hartsfield Jackson International Airport

Infrastructure Week Begins With Air Traffic Control Modernization

Infrastructure Week 2017 kicked-off Monday with the announcement that the president plans to privatize air traffic control. It won't be the first attempt at modernizing the antiquated system. Additional events planned Wednesday through Friday.

June 7, 2017 - Vox

City Streets Signed Over to a Developer in Downtown Atlanta

In a move that will enable the $350 million redevelopment of Underground Atlanta, the city has agreed to hand over ownership and control of public streets to the developer.

December 24, 2016 - Creative Loafing

Boston transit station

Private Rail Contractors Facing Fines for Service Failures

Private companies involved in Boston and Denver rail travel are facing increasingly large fines for service failures, and some are going unpaid.

December 9, 2016 - Governing

Chicago Tow Truck

Chicago to Install New Parking Meters to Lessen Impact of Bad Contract

The city of Chicago will install 752 new parking meters in 2017—but still fall far from the Shoupian ideal.

November 29, 2016 - DNAinfo Chicago

Trump Tower

Cities After President Trump

Urbanists consider what the administration of President-elect, Donald Trump, will mean for cities.

November 11, 2016 - CityLab

Op-Ed: Privatizing Parking at D.C. Metro Would Be a 50-Year Mistake

The executive director of a research and policy center on privatization and responsible contracting says a proposal to privative parking operations at the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority would bring a half century of regret.

September 18, 2016 - The Huffington Post

Boston Bus

MBTA Considering Privatization of Drivers and Maintenance Workers

A decision to privatize the employment of drivers and maintenance workers, especially for the system's buses, could lead to a wave of layoffs.

September 8, 2016 - The Boston Globe

Philadelphia Franklin Square

Philadelphia's Franklin Square Installs a Fence and a Symbol of Privatization

Philadelphia's Franklin Square will require admission in the evening this spring, for the duration on a Chinese lantern festival. A critic faults the "philosophy of privatism" for robbing the park of its democratic qualities.

May 2, 2016 - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Air Rights Deal to Renovate Boston's Back Bay Station Includes Skyscraper

Boston is in the process of effectively privatizing the management of its largest transit hubs. The latest example: a deal that would renovate MBTA’s Back Bay Station in exchange for air rights for a skyscraper above the station.

June 19, 2014 - The Boston Globe

The Lingering Consequences of Chicago's Parking Meter Privatization

An article examines "Exhibit A for bad public contracting"—a 75-year lease between Chicago a Morgan Stanley-led private consortium for 36,000 parking meters—as a cautionary tale about the lingering impacts of bad deals.

June 9, 2014 - Next City

Why Privatizing Transit Won’t Get Toronto Anywhere

Full or partial privatization of the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) would likely result in diminished service and a less expansive transit network.

February 24, 2014 - The Toronto Star

Long Grove road and bridge

A Chicago Suburb Seeks to Disown its Roads, Will Others Follow?

Facing a shortfall of more than $1 million to maintain its roads, the Chicago suburb of Long Grove is looking to privatize nearly half of them by asking residents to pick up the tab. Residents are unhappy about the plan, but see few alternatives.

January 14, 2014 - Chicago Tribune

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