Study ranks every state's highways on safety, pavement condition, and cost-effectiveness

Virginia and North Carolina have the most cost-effective state highway systems, while Alaska, New York, Hawaii, and California have the worst.

LOS ANGELES, April 20, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- The 27th Annual Highway Report finds Virginia's highways and bridges rank first in overall performance and cost-effectiveness thanks to good rural pavement conditions, low fatality rates, a relatively small percentage of deficient bridges, and low highway costs. North Carolina's solid pavement quality and low costs rank its state-controlled highway system second overall. Tennessee, Georgia, and Connecticut round out the top five in Reason Foundation's Annual Highway Report's performance and cost-effectiveness rankings.

The study shows that Alaska's highways rank last in the nation due to high fatality rates and poor urban and rural pavement conditions. New York's high spending didn't fix its bad urban pavement conditions or percentage of structurally deficient bridges, resulting in the state ranking 49^th in overall performance and cost-effectiveness. The other worst-ranked states—Hawaii (48^th), California (47^th), and Washington (46^th) — also tend to have high costs that are not translating into good pavement quality or safe road and bridge conditions.

Reason Foundation's 27^th Annual Highway Report examines every state in 13 categories, including urban and rural pavement conditions, highway fatality rates, traffic congestion, structurally deficient bridges, state highway spending and more. You can click on any state name below for a detailed analysis of its highway system's conditions and costs.

Reason Foundation's 27^th Annual Highway Report Rankings
Overall performance and cost-effectiveness rankings of state highway systems

1. Virginia
2. North Carolina
3. Tennessee
4. Georgia
5. Connecticut
6. South Carolina
7. Kentucky
8. Florida
9. North Dakota
10. Utah
11. Missouri
12. Minnesota
13. Arkansas
14. New Hampshire
15. Alabama
16. Wyoming
17. Ohio
18. Mississippi
19. Texas
20. Massachusetts
21. Nevada
22. Kansas
23. Indiana
24. Maryland
25. Montana
26. Nebraska
27. Michigan
28. South Dakota
29. Illinois
30. Arizona
31. Iowa
32. Maine
33. Wisconsin
34. Idaho
35. Delaware
36. New Mexico
37. Oregon
38. Vermont
39. West Virginia
40. Louisiana
41. Pennsylvania
42. Rhode Island
43. Colorado
44. New Jersey
45. Oklahoma
46. Washington
47. California
48. Hawaii
49. New York
50. Alaska

Nationally, the study finds that just 21 states improved the condition of their roads and bridges in 2020, the most recent year with complete data available. Highway spending was slightly lower in 2020 than in 2019.  Unfortunately, national urban and rural highway fatality rates rose, and pavement conditions deteriorated on rural Interstate highways and urban arterial roads. America's local roads are in especially bad shape, the report says.

The full 27^th Annual Highway Report is available here:
https://reason.org/policy-study/27th-annual-highway-report/

Reason Foundation is a non-profit, libertarian think tank. Reason's transportation experts have advised multiple presidential administrations, governors, and state transportation departments.

SOURCE Reason Foundation