AASHTO Journal, 12 September 2014
A new report claims the average California driver loses $2,500 per year as a result of driving on rough roads that are congested, deteriorated or lack certain safety features.
The report, “California Transportation by the Numbers: Meeting the State’s Need for Safe and Efficient Mobility,” was produced by TRIP, a national nonprofit transportation research group based in Washington, DC. TRIP officials were joined by a number of local city and county officials, as well as Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty and Will Kempton, Executive Director of Transportation California, at news conferences Thursday, Sept. 11 in the Bay Area, in Los Angeles and in Sacramento discussing the California’s transportation infrastructure.
The report, which provides facts and figures regarding road and bridge conditions, economic development, highway safety, and transportation funding in California, claims that “a lack of adequate state and local funding has resulted in more than one-third of major roads and highways in California having pavement surfaces in poor condition, providing a rough ride and costing motorist in the form of additional vehicle operating costs.”
The TRIP analysis argues that rough and congested roads are only part of the concern for California transportation officials. “Improving safety features on California’s roads and highways would likely result in a decrease in the state’s traffic fatalities and serious crashes. It is estimated that roadway features are likely a contributing factor in approximately one-third of all fatal and serious traffic crashes,” the report says.
A full copy of the report is available for download at http://www.tripnet.org/docs/CA_Transportation_by_the_Numbers_TRIP_Report_Sep_2014.pdf.