More than a third of major roads are rated in fair or poor condition.
Driving on roads in need of work in Massachusetts costs the average driver about $156 in added repairs and extra gas.
Traffic on major highways in Massachusetts is expected to jump 20 percent by the year 2025.
Car crashes cost the state $6.3 billion a year in medical bills, delays, lost productivity and insurance costs.
35 percent of interstate bridges in Massachusetts are one rating point away from being structurally
deficient.
More than a third of the state’s roads are in fair or poor condition, costing the average Bay State driver an estimated $156 each year in repair costs, increased fuel consumption and tire wear.
That’s one finding of a new report to be released today looking at the state’s pothole-plagued roads, crumbling bridges and cash-strapped public transit systems.
The report, conducted by the nonprofit group TRIP, was commissioned by a coalition of unions, business and civic groups who hope to renew a debate over transportation needs and what new revenues are needed to fix the problem.
Those revenues should include a hike in the state gas tax and expanded tolling beyond the Turnpike, some supporters said.
“We have to really make a decision about whether or not we are going to endanger public safety and endanger our economic competitiveness or whether we are going to step up and put some more money into the system,” said Marc Draisen of the Metropolitan Area Planning Council.
The coalition follows a report released last year claiming the state needs to raise an additional $15 billion to $19 billion to repair and maintain its existing transportation infrastructure over the next two decades.
Critics say that before the state can think about taxing drivers, it has to wring all the savings it can out of the system.
