"This country has been spending disparate money oninfrastructure upgrades, but never with a larger plan in mind,"Dale Anne Reiss, Global Director of Real Estate, Ernst & Youngin New York City, tells GlobeSt.com. "There is no strategic planavailable right now, or even a concept for what that plan may be."If lawmakers knew what the end goal was, it would be possible todevelop a funding route, she adds. "It could be a gas tax, morepublic-private partnerships, user fees, congestion financing –there are any number of different ways to go about this."

[IMGCAP(2)]Called Infrastructure 2008: A Competitive Advantage,the report's findings are more downbeat than last year's, whichpredicted that infrastructure will emerge as a new asset class forinstitutional investors seeking stable growth thatcan keep up with inflation. The 2007 report stated, somewhathopefully, that one potentially good source of funds for suchinvestments would be the various permutations of public-privatepartnerships that are so popular in Europe and Asia. However, aftera year in which major proposed public-private infrastructureprojects such as the Pennsylvania turnpike development foundered,enthusiasm for that particular model is diminished, Bob Dunphy,senior resident fellow for transportation and infrastructure atULI, tells GlobeSt.com. "If anything we are backsliding. Theproblem is that what we really need is for policymakers to coalescearound a model that would provide better guidelines to sponsors andparticipants."

Still, though, Dunphy adds, private sector funds are stillinterested in investing in this asset class. Some $400 billion inequity has been gathered by funds interested in this category."It's a matter of channeling it to the right investments."