At the current time, most agencies do not have a set of straightforward guidelines by which they decide whether to adopt a public-private partnership (PPP) for a given project, and if to adopt one, which type of PPP should be adopted. The proposed study intends to develop a PPP evaluation and decision support framework that NYSDOT can use to make these decisions, such that there is maximum benefit to the agency. The study will identify and quantify various agency and user cost components, and common risks and rewards that can be expected from each PPP type or project type, and identify influential factors for each component through rigorous statistical methodologies. In the benefit-cost aspect of the framework, the allocation or responsibilities for the risks (and the beneficiary of these rewards) will be identified. This will be done for each PPP type, and for each stage of the project development process. To that end, a number of typical PPP types will be explored, such as performance-based contracting, cost-plus-time, incentives/disincentives, design-build and its derivatives, project build-operate-transfer, build-own-operate, warranties, and lane-rentals. The decision-support methodology will be based on an elaborative evaluation – through advanced statistical modeling – of the aforementioned PPP types by procurement package, in terms of cost savings, cost overrun, time delay, change orders, and safety and operations before, during, and after construction/preservation work. The cost perspective of the cost-effectiveness concept will involve life cycle cost (agency and user) analysis of different options on the basis of past data. The effectiveness’ perspective of the framework will involve the extent to which specific agency goals are being achieved, for each alternative. These goals will include facility durability, frequency of maintenance, infrastructure performance, safety and operational performance of the facility, and availability of in-house expertise for operations and maintenance. The “optimal” decision will be one that is associated with the highest possible effectiveness and the least possible cost to the agency, user, or both. Application of the framework to specific commonly encountered scenarios will yield a set of decision matrices from which a simple excel-based electronic expert system will be developed. The expert system will help the agency’s decision-makers select the appropriate procurement package and contract type for a given project on the basis of the project characteristics, and the possible consequences of any selection thereof. Note that NYSDOT will complement the research team’s existing rich database with available information (see NYSDOT Support Letter).