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 - 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 49th in overall performance and cost-effectiveness. The other worst-ranked states—Hawaii (48th), California (47th), and Washington (46th) — also tend to have high costs that are not translating into good pavement quality or safe road and bridge conditions.

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

Virginia
North Carolina
Tennessee
Georgia
Connecticut
South Carolina
Kentucky
Florida
North Dakota
Utah
Missouri
Minnesota
Arkansas
New Hampshire
Alabama
Wyoming
Ohio
Mississippi
Texas
Massachusetts
Nevada
Kansas
Indiana
Maryland
Montana
Nebraska
Michigan
South Dakota
Illinois
Arizona
Iowa
Maine
Wisconsin
Idaho
Delaware
New Mexico
Oregon
Vermont
West Virginia
Louisiana
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Colorado
New Jersey
Oklahoma
Washington
California
Hawaii
New York
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 27th 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