Massachusetts highways rank fifth-worst in country: Report

Do you always feel like you’re stuck in traffic?

It turns out that’s not that really an exaggeration:Massachusetts commuters spendmore than 50 hours a year sitting in traffic, according to a new report.

The Reason Foundation, a Los Angeles-based libertarian think tank, released their annual highway report on Thursday and it revealed what Bay State drivers already probably know.

Massachusetts landed in the bottom of the rankings—along with Alaska, New Jersey, Hawaii and Rhode Island—in the report tracks the performance of all 50-owned state highway systems.

The Reason Foundation collects data that state highway agencies provide to the federal government on their spending and performance and this edition is based on 2013, the last year with complete data, the foundation said.

AlthoughMassachusetts exhibited higher spending than most states, it ranked 46thin overall performance.

Massachusetts spent the third highest amount on total disbursements per state-controlled mile at $675,939, according to the report, topped only by Florida and New Jersey. South Carolina had the lowest total disbursements with $35,286 and also earned the top ranking of the overall report.

The Bay State earned low marks for its congestion, which leads to those over 50 hours in delays pr auto commuterannually. Massachusetts was one of eight states to reach that (unfortunate) milestone.

Though our state has seen improvements in its bridges, the state still reported that more than a third of its bridges are deficient.

Massachusetts did earn a positive ranking in one area: For 2013, the Bay State had the lowest fatality rate in the nation. The state had a fatality rate of 0.58 per 100 million vehicle miles which is lower than the national average of 1.10.

See the full report here.