Evaluation of Mexican Transportation Infrastructure Projects

University of Texas researchers spent one year examining the legal, institutional and economic underpinnings of transportation planning within Mexico. After completing this review a series of case studies were performed in year two of the study intended to demonstrate how these institutional factors functioned in real world examples. The case studies were designed to focus on infrastructure projects considered strategically valuable by the Mexican government and assess how various institutions contributed to these projects’ development. The case studies were carried out by a group of graduate student researchers at the LBJ School of Public Affairs through a year-long applied research course called a policy research project. In a policy research project, a group of students selected due to their interest and expertise in key project areas, performs real world analysis on a particular topic for the benefit of a public sector sponsor. The scope of the study was intentionally broad, focusing on issues such as project prioritization and selection, budgeting and finance, bidding and tendering, right-of-way acquisition, environmental assessment and mitigation, engineering/planning coordination among entities, and citizen involvement. This approach allowed the researchers to develop a complete picture of the planning and implementation process as it applied to different types of projects. In addition to research on the implementation and development of Mexico’s infrastructure programs, the project also explored the degree to which Texas and Mexico are coordinating their transportation plans. Through a series of memoranda and this comprehensive final report, the project developed strategies to increase cross-border coordination, create relationships with many important Mexican contacts, assessed discontinuities between Mexico and Texas transportation plans, analyzed the process of project development in Mexico, and recommended policy changes. The project gathered information from literature reviews, telephone interviews, websites, and site visits to twelve projects around Mexico that covered all modes: highways, rail, ports, airports, commuter rail, and inland ports. In addition, personal interviews were conducted with government officials, project directors, and others involved in the development process. This report analyzes several case studies from around Mexico in depth, and comments on the impact of their development on Mexico and Texas’s economies.