Transportation represents one-third of the weight in ranking the Best States for infrastructure. Throughout history, transportation has played a key role in the development of the American economy, determining where and when growth happens. This comprehensive subcategory is broken down into four metrics: commute time, road quality, bridge quality and public transit usage. Some metrics may be more significant in some states than in others – such as the importance of public transit in urban areas and the quality of roads in rural regions – but each of the four metrics carried an equal weight in determining the Best States for transportation.
Nevada ranks first in the nation for transportation. Utah places second in this subcategory, followed by Delaware, Minnesota and Oregon.
Nevada ranks first in the nation for transportation. Utah places second in this subcategory, followed by Delaware, Minnesota and Oregon.
See the top 15 best states for transportation to the right and check out the full rankings here.
Road Quality
The road quality metric measures the percentage of major roads considered to be in poor condition in 2017 in each state, according to data from the Federal Highway Administration. On average, nearly one in four roads in the U.S. – from rural freeways to urban interstates – were in poor condition.
Nationally, 23% of roads are considered to be in poor condition and 9% of bridges are considered to be structurally deficient. In these five states, more than a quarter of roads are considered to be in poor condition. This includes Texas, where 43% of roads are considered to be in poor condition, Rhode Island (33%), California (28%), Hawaii (27%) and New Jersey(27%).
On average, nearly one in 11 American bridges were deficient, but in Nevada and Texas, fewer than 2% of bridges were structurally deficient.
