Massachusetts has the third-worst highway traffic in the country, a new report found.
The average Bay State driver spends 40.4 peak hours in urban-area traffic congestion per year, far exceeding the national average of roughly 27 hours.
Only drivers in New York and New Jersey fared worse, with 43.2 and 48 hours spent in peak city traffic per year, respectively, according to LA-based think tank Reason Foundation, which released its annual highway report this week.
Notably, this report uses 2020 congestion data, from a 2021 study conducted by Texas A&M Transportation Institute. It considers urban traffic congestion throughout each state, but noted that “the congestion problem is primarily concentrated in the major cities of just a few states.”
INRIX, a global transportation data and analytics company, released its own report in January, which ranked Boston gridlock as second-worst in the country and fourth-worst in the world — behind London, Chicago and Paris, but ahead of New York City for cities with the “highest traffic delay times.”
Traffic congestion is one of several factors dragging down Massachusetts’ ranking in the Reason Foundation report, in terms of how its highway system compares to other states throughout the country for “overall cost-effectiveness and condition.”
Massachusetts ranks 20th, a considerable improvement from last year when its highway system ranked 43rd. But the state ranks near the bottom of the country, 47th, for the state of its urban interstate pavement condition.
Roughly 24% of this pavement is in poor condition in Massachusetts, which is 1.5 and 1.3 times more than respective peer states Maryland and New Jersey, the report stated.
“To improve in the rankings, Massachusetts needs to improve its urban arterial pavement and reduce its urbanized area congestion,” the report’s lead author, Baruch Feigenbaum, said in a statement.
“The state’s capital and bridge and maintenance spending is among the lowest-15 of the states, which is a remarkable accomplishment, considering the state’s high-cost neighborhood. But the state may need to redirect resources to help it address urban pavement quality, traffic congestion and bridge quality.”
Roughly 8.7% of Massachusetts bridges are structurally deficient, placing it higher than the national average of 7% and 37th in the state.
The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, a conservative watchdog group, also criticized the state’s high maintenance and administrative spending for highways, as depicted in the report.
The Bay State ranks third-highest for administrative disbursement per lane mile, at $32,754 compared to the national average of $5,342. It ranks eighth-highest for maintenance disbursement per mile, at $32,754 compared to the national average of $14,546.
Figures from 2020 were used in the report, which, despite the high spending, ranked Massachusetts 14th for maintenance costs and 32nd for administrative disbursements.
“This year, while Massachusetts’ overall highway system rankings have seen some improvements, the Commonwealth continues to rank as one of the most inefficient states in the country for how it spends taxpayer dollars on ‘maintenance’ and ‘administrative’ costs,” MassFiscal said in a statement.
“These two categories are critical in determining how efficiently taxpayer money is spent, especially when elected leaders claim they need more revenue from the taxpayers.”