FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, March 19, 2026
Contact:
Rocky Moretti (202) 262-0714 (cell)
Carolyn Bonifas Kelly (703) 801-9212 (cell)
Click here for the full report, news conference recording and infographics.
COEUR D’ALENE MOTORISTS LOSE NEARLY $1,600 PER YEAR DRIVING ON ROADS THAT ARE ROUGH, CONGESTED & LACK SOME DESIRABLE SAFETY FEATURES – $2 BILLION STATEWIDE. IDAHO LEADS NATION IN VEHICLE TRAVEL GROWTH AND POPULATION GROWTH
Coeur d’Alene, ID – Roads and bridges that are deteriorated, congested or lack some desirable safety features cost Idaho motorists a total of $2 billion statewide annually – $1,598 per driver in the Coeur d’Alene urban area – due to higher vehicle operating costs, traffic crashes and congestion-related delays. A lack of adequate investment in transportation and increasing inflation in construction costs could hamper Idaho’s ability to make needed improvements to its transportation network, according to a new report released today by TRIP, a Washington, DC, based national transportation research nonprofit.
The TRIP report, “Idaho Transportation by the Numbers: Meeting the State’s Need for Safe, Smooth and Efficient Mobility,” finds that Idaho has led the nation in vehicle travel growth since 2019, contributing to increasing traffic congestion. The TRIP report also found that 43 percent of major locally and state-maintained roads are in poor or mediocre condition, five percent of locally and state-maintained bridges (20 feet or more in length) are rated poor/structurally deficient, and the number of traffic fatalities has increased significantly in the last decade. In addition to statewide data, the TRIP report includes regional pavement and bridge conditions, congestion data, highway safety data, and cost breakdowns for the Boise, Coeur d’Alene and Idaho Falls urban areas.
The average motorist in Coeur d’Alene loses $1,598 per year in the form of extra vehicle operating costs (VOC) as a result of driving on roads in need of repair, lost time and fuel due to congestion-related delays, and the costs of traffic crashes in which the lack of adequate roadway safety features, while not the primary factor, likely were a contributing factor. A breakdown of the costs per motorist in the state’s largest urban areas, along with a statewide total, is below.
The TRIP report found that Idaho leads the nation in population and vehicle travel growth. Idaho’s population grew to approximately 2 million residents in 2025, a 29 percent increase since 2010. This was the fastest rate of population growth among U.S. states during that time and significantly outpaced the national rate of 10 percent population growth during that time. Idaho is also leading the nation in the rate of vehicle miles of travel growth since just prior to the COVID-19 pandemic. From 2019 to 2025, vehicle miles of travel (VMT) in Idaho increased by 14 percent, the highest rate among all states and significantly higher than the one percent increase in U.S. VMT during the same period.
Traffic congestion in the Coeur d’Alene area causes 41 annual hours of delay for the average motorist and costs the average driver $725 annually in lost time and wasted fuel. Coeur d’Alene drivers waste an average of 10 gallons of fuel per motorist annually due to congestion. Statewide, drivers lose $620 million annually as a result of lost time and wasted fuel due to traffic congestion.
Traffic crashes in Idaho claimed the lives of 1,441 people from 2019 to 2024. In the decade from 2014 to 2024 the number of traffic fatalities in Idaho increased 29 percent. In the Coeur d’Alene area, on average, 16 people were killed in traffic crashes each year from 2019 to 2023. The financial impact of traffic crashes in which the lack of adequate roadway safety features, while not the primary factor, were likely a contributing factor, was an average of $374 annually per each Coeur d’Alene area driver – a total of $594 million statewide.
The TRIP report finds that 41 percent of major locally and state-maintained roads in the Coeur d’Alene urban area are in poor or mediocre condition, costing the average motorist an additional $499 each year in extra vehicle operating costs, including accelerated vehicle depreciation, additional repair costs, and increased fuel consumption and tire wear. Statewide, 43 percent of Idaho’s major roads are in poor or mediocre condition.
In the Coeur d’Alene area, four percent of bridges are rated poor/structurally deficient, with significant deterioration to the bridge deck, supports or other major components. Statewide, five percent of Idaho’s bridges are rated poor/structurally deficient.
Without additional transportation funding at the local, state and federal levels, costs to motorists will increase and needed projects will be delayed. Revenue from Idaho’s motor fuel tax — a primary transportation funding source — is falling behind future needs as improved fuel efficiency and growing electric and hybrid vehicle use reduce gas tax collections. At the same time, inflation has significantly increased highway construction costs. The Federal Highway Administration’s national highway construction cost index rose 47 percent from early 2022 through the first half of 2025, significantly reducing the purchasing power of available transportation dollars.
The efficiency and condition of Idaho’s transportation system, particularly its highways, is critical to the health of the state’s economy. In 2024 Idaho’s freight system moved 191 billion tons of freight, valued at $117 billion. From 2024 to 2050, freight moved annually in Idaho by trucks is expected to increase 42 percent by weight and 80 percent by value (inflation-adjusted dollars). The design, construction and maintenance of transportation infrastructure in Idaho supports approximately 19,300 full-time jobs across all sectors of the state economy. Approximately 304,000 full-time jobs in Idaho in key industries like tourism, retail sales, agriculture and manufacturing are dependent on the quality, safety and reliability of the state’s transportation infrastructure network.
“It will be critical that Idaho adequately invest in its transportation network in order to provide a system that is smooth, safe and efficient,” said Dave Kearby, TRIP’s executive director. “It is much more cost effective to invest in improving and maintaining the state’s transportation network than to pass along the high costs of a deficient transportation system to drivers”