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Idaho ranks 17 for transportation system efficiency
Annual report by the Reason Foundation

Idaho’s state transportation system remained constant, ranked 17th nationally in an efficiency report issued this week by the Reason Foundation. The 20th annual report, under the direction of David T. Hartgen, indicted Idaho’s performance was unchanged between 2008 and 2009, and was slightly lower than in 2007.

Idaho’s performance/ranking increased in:

Maintenance disbursements per mile (ranked 28th in 2008, ranked 25th in 2009)
Urban interstate percent in poor condition (42nd to 39th), and
Percent of deficient bridges (16th to 15th)

Idaho dropped slightly in rankings among all states for:

Capital disbursements per mile of bridges
Administrative disbursements per mile
Total disbursements per mile
Percent of rural interstates in poor condition
Percent of rural, principal arterial roads in poor condition
Rural arterial lane miles considered “narrow,” and
Fatality rate

The percent of urban interstate that are considered congested remained unchanged, ranking 15th in 2008 and again in 2009.

Reason’s ranking period, which extends only through 2009, did not include many of the improvements Idaho made under the GARVEE (Grant Anticipation Revenue Vehicle) program, through stimulus funds and ITD’s continued system investments during the recession while other states scaled back.

“The U.S. economic downturn, which began in 2007 and continued in earnest in 2008 and 2009, is an important background factor influencing these trends. In 2008, total U.S. annual vehicle miles traveled (VMT) fell about 3.5 percent from 2007 levels, lowering congestion slightly from prior years. Also, beginning in late 2008 and continuing into 2009 and 2010, federal stimulus funding contributed an additional 22 percent to funding resources."

According to the Reason report, “Idaho ranks 15th in urban interstate congestion, 15th in deficient bridges, 34th in rural interstate pavement condition, 39th in urban interstate pavement condition, and 40th in fatality rate. Idaho led the nation in the percentage of fatality reductions from 2010 and 2011.

With 4,959 miles under the state highway control, it is 8th smallest system in the country. This system mostly performs well, with low administrative costs per mile and about average disbursements per mile,” the report indicated.

North Dakota continued to lead the nation in the overall efficiency of the transportation system. The other top 10 states were, in order, Kansas, Wyoming, New Mexico, Montana, Nebraska, South Carolina, Missouri, South Dakota and Mississippi.

Oregon ranked 13th overall, while Nevada was 16th and Washington was 24th. Alaska was the worst performing system, ranking 50th. Others in the bottom 10 included: Colorado, Minnesota, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, California, Hawaii and Rhode Island.