TRIP: U.S. Rural Transportation System Needs $198B

AASHTO

September 20, 2024

Compiled by TRIP, a Washington, D.C.-based transportation research nonprofit, that report – entitled “Rural Connections: Examining the Safety, Connectivity, Condition, and Funding Needs of America’s Rural Roads & Bridges” – indicates roads, highways, rails, and bridges in the nation’s rural areas face a number of “significant challenges,” such as a lack of adequate capacity, high crash rates, and a lack of adequate support for rising freight traffic on many corridors.

The organization noted that an analysis conducted by the U.S. Department of Transportation and submitted to Congress in July – officially entitled “Status of the Nation’s Highways, Bridges and Transit Conditions and Performance Report, 25th Edition” – that the U.S. faces a $198 billion backlog in needed repairs and improvements to the nation’s rural roads, highways and bridges.

That includes a $97 billion backlog for rural road and highway rehabilitation, a $53 billion backlog for needed rural bridge rehabilitation, and a $48 billion backlog for needed rural roadway expansions and enhancements, according to USDOT’s numbers.

View the full article: AASHTOJournal.ttransportation.org