Eight in bidding for Alligator Alley lease in Florida

Eight firms submitted qualifications in the first stage of a longterm lease of the 125km (78 mile) I-75 east-west tollroad from the Miami area to Naples Florida.

The eight are:

- OHL-Carlyle

- Abertis

- Atlantia (formerly Autostada) & ETC

- Brisa-CCR-JPMorgan

- Macquarie

- Vinci-Cofiroute-Hubbard

- Cintra-CSGlobal

- Caja de Madrid-FCC-GVI-Alltech

For the full names including some fancy project names see:

http://www.tollroadsnews.com/sites/default/files/responders.pdf

At the end of the month Florida DOT is due to issue a formal request of proposals, probably to a short list selection of these.

Legislation passed last year required Florida DOT to  do toll concession leases of its toll facilities for up to 75 years.

Website for the lease procurement:

http://www.alligator-alley.com/

The road of 2+2 lanes expressway going through the Everglades swamps does about 24k veh/day with 11% trucks.  There are toll plazas at each end, taking tolls (for cars $2.50 cash, $2.00 transponder) in one direction each.

Transponder tolls for cars only amount to 2.6c/mile and 3.2c/mile cash (1.6c/km, 2c/km). Toll revenues in 2007 were around $24m, but traffic is down this year by close to 5%.

Price elasticity of demand was estimated at -0.07 after the 2006 toll increase of 55% and a reduction in traffic of only 4%.  The road is vulnerable to swings in the business cycle since it is mainly used for recreational trips and freight. There are few daily users.

The department has estimated the net present value of gross toll revenues as ranging between $750m and $1900m based on a  50 year concession, 6% discount rate and different toll and traffic growth rates.  Net present value of net revenues (tolls less costs) range even more widely - between $311m and $1481m - giving the bidders a wide 'window' in which to pitch their bids.

The road is not named Alligator Alley out of whim. A major operations issue is managing wildlife crossing.

TOLLROADSnews 2008-06-06