Rhode Island, Oklahoma Rank Worst in National Road Study
upstart writes in with an IRC submission for Bytram:
Rhode Island, Oklahoma rank worst in national road study - Roadshow:
America's road infrastructure is in bad shape. It's one of the very few things that everyone seems to agree on, but because of the massive scale of the problem and the costs involved in fixing it, not much is being done, and the problem is getting worse.
To put in perspective just how bad it's getting, let's take a look at a road study performed by the Federal Highway Administration and interpreted by car insurance website QuoteWizard. The study ranks all 50 states' roads based on three criteria:
- Percentage of roads rated in "Poor" condition
- Annual cost per motorist incurred due to road condition
- Percentage of the state's bridges rated as structurally deficient
Now, while you might expect someplace like New York, Massachusetts or California to rank worst, none of those states even cracks the top five. Which do? Well, at the top of the list is Rhode Island, which has over half (53% to be specific) of its roads rated as poor, 23% of its bridges marked as structurally deficient and an average cost of $823 per driver per year. Pretty impressive for a state with a population of just over a million people.
Next on the list are Oklahoma and West Virginia, with 33% and 31% rated-poor roads, respectively. Rounding out the top five are Mississippi and Pennsylvania with 30% each, though Mississippi edges out PA thanks to its significantly higher cost to motorists -- $820 versus $610.
Read more of this story at SoylentNews.