NYC has a lot of room for improvement when it comes to roadways.
Credit: Spencer Platt, Getty Images
This may not come as a surprise to most New York drivers. A new report has found that the city’s road conditions are among the worst in urban areas across the country.
TRIP, a national transportation research group, ranked New York City roads sixth-worst among large cities in the U.S., with 51 percent of its pavements in poor condition.
The report also found that the New York and Newark area is the 10th most expensive for drivers among cities with populations of 500,000 or more, costing drivers an average of $673 in additional maintenance costs per year.
Los Angeles topped both lists, ranking as the city with the worst pavement conditions and costing drivers an average of $832 in additional costs per year.
“With state and local governments struggling to fund needed road repairs and with federal surface transportation funding set to be slashed next year, road conditions are projected to get even worse,” said Will Wilkins, TRIP’s executive director.
Poor road conditions accelerate vehicle depreciation and increase needed maintenance, fuel consumption and tire wear, the report states.
Pavement conditions are likely to worsen under current funding by all levels of government, according to the report.
“Through 2032, the U.S. faces a $156 billion shortfall in the amount needed to maintain roadways in their current condition, a $374 billion shortfall to make modest improvements in pavement conditions and a $670 billion shortfall to make significant improvements to roadway conditions,” TRIP writes.
The report’s data was derived from the Federal Highway Administration’s 2011 survey of road conditions.
