KEY FACTS ABOUT AMERICA’S ROAD AND
BRIDGE CONDITIONS AND FEDERAL FUNDING
Updated November 2005

America's system of roads and bridges serves as the backbone of the state's transportation system, carrying the bulk of the country's commercial goods movement as well as personal travel.

Increased investment in the country's road and highway system is needed to improve traffic safety, relieve traffic congestion, stimulate economic development and improve road and bridge conditions. An adequate system of well-designed roads and highways, maintained in good condition, will provide the public with improved safety, improved convenience and reduced vehicle operating costs.

Federal Funding for Our Nation's Road and Bridge System Generates Jobs; Making Needed Highway Improvements Assures Economic Security

• Our nation's highways, transit systems, railroads, airports, ports and inland waterways drive our economy, enabling all industries to achieve the growth and productivity that has made America so strong and prosperous.

• A USDOT study concludes that for each $1 billion of federal spending on highway construction nationwide, 47,500 jobs are generated annually.

• The USDOT study also states that every dollar invested in the nation's highway system yields $5.40 in economic benefits because of reduced delays, improved safety and reduced vehicle operating costs.

• Seventy-four percent of the $8 trillion worth of commodities delivered annually to and from sites in the U.S. is transported by trucks on the state's highways. One percent is delivered by a combination of trucks, rail and ships or barges, and 12 percent is delivered by parcel, U.S. Postal Service or courier, which use multiple modes, including highways.

• Driving on roads in need of repair costs U.S. motorists $54 billion a year in extra vehicle repairs and operating costs - $275 per motorist.

• Traffic congestion costs American motorists $63.1 billion a year in wasted time and fuel costs. Americans spend an additional 3.5 billion hours a year stuck in traffic.

• Motor vehicle crashes cost U.S. citizens $230 billion per year, or $819 for each resident, for medical costs, lost productivity, travel delay, workplace costs, insurance costs and legal costs.
  

The Federal Highway Trust Fund Guarantees
Funding Needed for Our Nation's Roads and Bridges

• Congress reauthorized the multi-year federal surface transportation legislation on July 29, 2005, approving $286.4 billion for transportation needs nationwide. President Bush signed the Safe, Accountable, Flexible, and Efficient Transportation Equity Act - A Legacy for Users (SAFETEA-LU), into law on August 10, 2005.

• There is a balance of $18 billion in the Highway Trust Fund. These funds are derived solely from user fees.

• The Federal Highway Trust Fund was established by the Federal-Aid Highway and the Highway Revenue Acts of 1956 to provide needed revenues to help build and improve the Interstate System and roads and bridges that are eligible for federal aid.

• The Federal Highway Trust Fund consists of a highway account, which receives 15.44 cents per gallon of the gasoline tax, a mass transit account, which receives 2.86 cents per gallon, and a Leaking Underground Storage Tank Trust Fund, which receives 0.1 cent per gallon. The highway trust fund is designed to finance road and bridge and mass transit improvements on a pay-as-you-go basis. Its expenditures by law cannot exceed its income.
  

Current Road and Bridge Conditions, Travel Trends and Traffic Congestion

• Thirty-four percent of America's major roads are in poor or mediocre condition.

• Twenty-seven percent of America's bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.

• Thirty-six percent of America's major urban roads are congested.

• People almost exclusively rely on motor vehicles for mobility. Travel in private vehicles accounts for 88 percent of all person miles of travel. Air travel accounts for eight percent of all person miles of travel, while transit (including buses and trains) account for one percent.

• Vehicle travel on America's highways increased by 35 percent from 1990 to 2003. U.S. population grew by 17 percent between 1990 and 2003.

• Vehicle travel on America's highways increased by 161 percent from 1970 to 2003. The nation's population grew by 43 percent during that period, while new road mileage increased by only six percent.

Roadway Improvements Can Save Lives, Reduce Accidents and Relieve Congestion

• Roadway conditions are a factor in an estimated 30 percent of traffic fatalities. There were 42,636 traffic fatalities in 2004 in the U.S.

• Highway improvements such as removing obstacles, adding or improving medians, wider lanes and shoulders, upgrading roads from two lanes to four lanes, and better road markings and traffic signals can reduce traffic fatalities and accidents and improve traffic flow to help relieve congestion.

• $100 million spent on highway safety improvements will save 145 lives over a 10-year period, according to a study conducted by the Federal Highway Administration.

• A total of 212,235 people died on U.S. highways from 2000 through 2004. Nationwide, 76 percent of all fatal crashes occur on two-lane roads while only 14 percent of fatal crashes occur on roads with four or more lanes. In the U.S., 55 percent of major roads, excluding the Interstate, are two lanes.

Data from the Federal Highway Administration, the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Texas Transportation Institute, was compiled and analyzed by TRIP, a nonprofit transportation research group based in Washington, D.C. Information is the latest available.