I think the intentions behind the PPTA act are good. The problem is that state officials negotiated very poorly on behalf of the state and taxpayers, and the private/business conglomerates taking on these projects took full advantage of that poor bargaining.
The PPTA was sold by its advocates in the administration of Gov. George Allen (R) as being a way to build highway infrastructure faster and at lower cost (and especially a way to prevent statewide motor fuel tax increases, since most rural parts of the state, where capacity is not needed, absolutely do not want to help to fund expensive projects in Hampton Roads and Northern Virginia - or along the I-95 and I-81 corridors).
And I'm tired of my tax money
absolutely supporting rural areas in the form of transfer subsidies.
Sorry, but those economically depressed parts are doing much more taking than giving, and your comment only reinforces this odd notion that somehow Northern Virginia and Hampton Roads are the reason why these counties are poor.
The PPTA was sold because lobbyists told Richmond to sell it. McDonnel's plight shows that Virginia policymakers can be bought and sold, and for rather cheap. I'm sure that the political components of most state's highway administrations are similar (i.e. take a guess why so many State-level secretaries of transportation wind up on the board of directotors of some firm relating to road construction after their tentures). Ultimately, the citizens will wind up paying for a project, and instead of money going to a public authority and become invested in public works, it will go to a corporation's profit sheet and distributed to its owners.
Southerners love to goad all things NJ and NY, but at leat the PANY-NJ produces and runs stuff of use. What does Virginia have to show for its wasted experiments with these partnerships? Not much. Frankly, I'd kill for a Northern Virginia authority that could serve the public as well as PANY-NJ could.