28th Annual Highway Report

Introduction

Reason Foundation’s 28th Annual Highway Report evaluates state highway systems on cost versus quality using a method developed in the early 1990s by David T. Hartgen, Ph.D., emeritus professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. This method has since been refined by Hartgen, M. Gregory Fields, Baruch Feigenbaum, and Truong Bui.

Since states have different budgets, system sizes, and traffic and geographic circumstances, their comparative performance depends on both system performance and the resources available. To determine relative performance across the country, state highway system budgets (per mile of responsibility) are compared with system performance, state by state. States with high rankings typically have better-than-average system conditions (good for road users) along with relatively low per-mile expenditures (also good for taxpayers).

The following table shows the overall highway performance of the state highway systems in the 28th Annual Highway Report, primarily using data that each state directly reported to the Federal Highway Administration.

Similar to last year, the top-performing states are a mix of large and small states as well as states that are more urban and more rural. (Tables 1, 2, 3, 4, and Figure 1). Five large-population (more than seven million people) states place in the top 10 of the overall rankings: North Carolina (2nd), Virginia (4th), Tennessee (5th), Georgia (6th), and Ohio (10th).

Numerous factors—terrain, climate, truck volumes, urbanization, system age, budget priorities, unit cost differences, state budget circumstances, and management/maintenance philosophies—all affect overall performance in the Annual Highway Report. The remainder of this report reviews the statistics underlying these overall rankings in more detail.

The overall rankings are not dramatically different from the previous version of the Annual Highway Report. However, three states’ overall ranking improved by double digits this year, while two states’ overall rankings declined by 10 or more spots:

Idaho improved 19 positions from 34th to 15th in the overall rankings, as rural Interstate condition improved by 34 positions and urban Interstate condition improved by 22 positions. In addition, the rural fatality rate improved by 20 positions.
Maine improved 11 positions from 32nd to 21st in the overall rankings, as rural Interstate condition improved by 24 positions. Capital disbursements also improved by 12 positions.
New Jersey improved 10 positions from 44th to 34th in the overall rankings, as administrative and maintenance disbursements improved by 15 and 25 positions respectively. Rural Interstate condition improved by 12 positions.
Massachusetts declined 20 positions from 20th to 40th in the overall rankings, as rural Interstate condition declined by 23 positions. The state also fared poorly in disbursements. Administrative disbursements worsened by 19 positions and maintenance disbursements declined by 26 positions.
Arkansas declined 15 positions from 13th to 28th in the overall rankings, as rural fatalities declined by 25 positions and urban fatalities worsened by 39 positions. Capital disbursements also declined by 10 positions.

28th Annual Highway Report: Each State’s Highway Performance Ranking By Category

State	Overall	Capital & Bridge Disbursements Ratio	Maintenance Disbursements Ratio	Admin Disbursements Ratio	Other Disbursements Ratio	Rural Interstate Pavement Condition	Urban Interstate Pavement Condition	Rural Arterial Pavement Condition	Urban Arterial Pavement Condition	Urbanized Area Congestion	Structurally Deficient Bridges	Rural Fatality Rate	Urban Fatality Rate	Other Fatality Rate
North Carolina	1	7	5	1	3	20	17	15	10	21	31	39	9	39
South Carolina	2	2	4	6	1	27	10	22	7	23	18	44	41	48
North Dakota	3	26	14	15	11	6	3	20	25	1	42	29	6	7
Virginia	4	1	29	12	5	11	26	8	17	37	9	35	23	16
Tennessee	5	11	13	28	2	19	16	18	9	27	11	27	43	42
Georgia	6	8	15	32	22	14	13	2	3	43	5	25	39	29
Minnesota	7	29	36	36	36	8	14	17	2	29	12	2	1	6
Utah	8	47	34	27	32	10	18	10	6	16	6	10	17	9
Missouri	9	3	11	5	27	18	23	14	22	20	39	26	32	17
Ohio	10	6	20	18	26	26	32	9	36	14	13	9	12	31
Kentucky	11	15	17	2	31	24	30	7	14	22	33	17	22	47
Wyoming	12	23	27	9	8	21	42	6	18	8	29	36	14	22
Connecticut	13	18	9	14	20	9	15	32	28	32	21	30	26	21
Florida	14	40	25	23	23	4	9	5	5	39	10	38	48	27
Idaho	15	49	33	17	40	23	7	12	12	7	20	23	5	15
Montana	16	16	38	19	25	13	2	24	27	18	32	41	44	24
Alabama	17	22	1	42	46	33	29	4	1	17	8	33	29	26
Mississippi	18	13	2	8	9	32	35	38	32	6	28	40	42	30
New Hampshire	19	9	28	46	44	2	1	19	8	33	34	19	3	20
Indiana	20	46	49	16	6	34	22	3	4	28	24	14	45	5
Maine	21	21	35	11	24	3	6	44	29	2	46	15	4	23
Kansas	22	38	23	34	49	15	21	13	21	5	22	11	19	35
Michigan	23	33	22	13	15	38	41	16	33	26	43	3	24	19
Nevada	24	36	26	49	34	5	20	1	11	35	3	47	25	37
Texas	25	32	18	38	19	22	34	11	38	40	2	37	34	43
Wisconsin	26	24	10	24	39	30	33	39	44	24	27	7	10	10
South Dakota	27	31	39	45	12	7	11	23	15	11	48	21	15	40
Arkansas	28	25	6	3	21	39	40	36	30	4	23	43	46	36
Arizona	29	27	7	41	30	41	12	30	20	30	1	45	38	41
Nebraska	30	28	32	29	16	16	25	35	49	15	36	20	31	12
Iowa	31	44	21	33	17	28	24	40	26	3	49	6	11	18
Maryland	32	19	31	22	47	25	44	27	45	45	14	1	28	11
West Virginia	33	5	12	7	4	35	31	45	13	10	50	34	13	50
New Jersey	34	39	16	10	38	12	43	29	41	50	30	5	16	8
Oregon	35	34	47	39	37	17	19	26	23	41	15	46	35	44
Illinois	36	45	24	30	29	29	37	42	34	46	38	16	21	28
Pennsylvania	37	17	37	31	33	37	39	31	37	42	45	12	20	25
New Mexico	38	10	3	44	35	40	36	34	39	25	16	42	50	34
Oklahoma	39	37	43	37	42	36	38	43	31	12	41	22	30	49
Massachusetts	40	12	41	43	18	43	28	33	46	49	37	24	8	4
Delaware	41	4	46	48	10	–	46	21	16	48	4	49	36	38
Rhode Island	42	30	30	20	7	1	4	49	48	38	47	31	2	2
Colorado	43	42	45	26	13	47	45	37	35	36	19	32	40	32
Vermont	44	35	48	50	48	31	5	48	24	9	7	8	7	14
New York	45	41	42	40	41	42	48	28	47	47	40	4	18	13
Louisiana	46	14	19	4	45	45	49	46	42	34	44	13	37	46
Washington	47	50	50	47	50	44	27	25	43	31	17	18	27	33
Hawaii	48	20	8	25	14	–	50	47	40	19	26	50	47	1
California	49	43	44	35	43	46	47	41	50	44	25	28	33	45
Alaska	50	48	40	21	28	48	8	50	19	13	35	48	49	3