Policy Study

Vermont Ranks 30th in the Nation in Highway Performance and Cost-Effectiveness

Vermont’s best rankings are in urban Interstate pavement condition, urban fatality rate, rural Interstate pavement condition, and structurally deficient bridges.

Vermont’s highway system ranks 30th in the nation in overall cost-effectiveness and condition, according to the Annual Highway Report by Reason Foundation. This is an 11-spot decrease from the previous report, where Vermont ranked 19th overall, due in part to traffic congestion worsening.

In safety and performance categories, Vermont ranks 10th in overall fatality rate, 5th in structurally deficient bridges, 30th in traffic congestion, 1st in urban Interstate pavement condition, and 5th in rural Interstate pavement condition.

On spending, Vermont ranks 33rd in total spending per mile and 27th in capital and bridge costs per mile.

“To improve in the rankings, Vermont needs to reduce its administrative disbursements and improve its rural arterial pavement condition. Vermont ranks in the bottom 10 states for both categories. Compared to nearby states, the report finds Vermont’s overall highway performance is better than Connecticut (ranks 35th), Massachusetts (ranks 47th), and New York (ranks 44th),” said Baruch Feigenbaum, lead author of the Annual Highway Report and senior managing director of transportation policy at Reason Foundation. “Vermont is doing worse than comparable states like New Hampshire (ranks 29th) and Maine (ranks 25th).”

Vermont’s best rankings are in urban Interstate pavement condition (1st) and urban fatality rate (3rd).

Vermont’s worst rankings are in administrative disbursements per mile (45th) and rural arterial pavement condition (44th).

Vermont’s state-controlled highway mileage makes it the 48th largest highway system in the country.

Reason Foundation’s Annual Highway Report measures the condition and cost-effectiveness of state-controlled highways in 13 categories, including pavement condition, traffic congestion, structurally deficient bridges, traffic fatalities, and spending (capital, maintenance, administrative, overall) per mile.

The Annual Highway Report is based on spending and performance data submitted by state highway agencies to the federal government for 2018 as well as urban congestion data from INRIX and bridge condition data from the Better Roads inventory for 2019.

Reason Foundation’s Annual Highway Report measures the condition and cost-effectiveness of state-controlled highways in 13 categories, including pavement condition, traffic congestion, structurally deficient bridges, traffic fatalities, and spending (capital, maintenance, administrative, overall) per mile.

The Annual Highway Report is based on spending and performance data submitted by state highway agencies to the federal government for 2018 as well as urban congestion data from INRIX and bridge condition data from the Better Roads inventory for 2019.