FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, March 19, 2025
Contact:
Rocky Moretti (202) 262-0714
Carolyn Bonifas Kelly (703) 801-9212
Click here for the full report, news conference recording and infographics.
FREDERICK-HAGERSTOWN MOTORISTS LOSE NEARLY $1,800 PER YEAR DRIVING ON ROADS THAT ARE ROUGH, CONGESTED & LACK SOME DESIRABLE SAFETY FEATURES – $12 BILLION STATEWIDE
Frederick, MD – Roads and bridges that are deteriorated, congested or lack some desirable safety features cost Maryland motorists a total of $12 billion statewide annually – $1,770 per driver in the Frederick-Hagerstown 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 Maryland’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, “Maryland Transportation by the Numbers: Meeting the State’s Need for Safe, Smooth and Efficient Mobility,” finds that throughout Maryland, nearly half 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, traffic congestion is choking commuting and commerce, and the state’s traffic fatality rate 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 Baltimore and Frederick/Hagerstown urban areas and the Maryland portion of the Washington, DC suburbs.
Driving on roads in the Frederick-Hagerstown area costs the average driver $1,770 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 finds that 39 percent of major locally and state-maintained roads in the Frederick-Hagerstown urban area are in poor or mediocre condition, costing the average motorist an additional $564 each year in extra vehicle operating costs, including accelerated vehicle depreciation, additional repair costs, and increased fuel consumption and tire wear. Statewide, 49 percent of Maryland’s major roads are in poor or mediocre condition.
In the Frederick-Hagerstown area, three percent of bridges are rated poor/structurally deficient, with significant deterioration to the bridge deck, supports or other major components. Statewide, five percent of Maryland’s bridges are rated poor/structurally deficient.
Traffic congestion in the Frederick-Hagerstown area causes 23 annual hours of delay for the average motorist and costs the average driver $638 annually in lost time and wasted fuel. Frederick-Hagerstown drivers waste an average of nine gallons of fuel per motorist annually due to congestion. Statewide, drivers lose $5.6 billion annually as a result of lost time and wasted fuel due to traffic congestion. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, vehicle travel in Maryland dropped by as much as 47 percent in April 2020 (as compared to vehicle travel during the same month the previous year). By 2024, vehicle miles of travel in Maryland had rebounded to four percent below 2019’s pre-pandemic levels.
“TRIP’s report highlights the urgent need for infrastructure investment to support Maryland’s economy, public safety, and quality of life. In the Greater Washington region, modernizing critical corridors like the American Legion Bridge, I-495, and I-270 is essential to easing congestion, improving safety, and keeping our region competitive,” said Daniel Flores, vice president for regional government relations at the Greater Washington Board of Trade. “Equally important is sustained funding for public transportation, including Metro, which serves as the backbone of regional mobility, connects people to jobs, and reduces pressure on our roads.”
Traffic crashes in Maryland claimed the lives of 3,357 people from 2018 to 2023. In the decade from 2013 to 2023 the number of traffic fatalities in Maryland increased 31 percent and the state’s fatality rate increased 28 percent. From 2018 to 2023, the number of traffic fatalities in Maryland increased 19 percent and the fatality rate increased 23 percent. In the Frederick-Hagerstown area, on average, 40 people were killed in traffic crashes each year from 2018 to 2022. 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 $568 annually per each Frederick-Hagerstown area driver – a total of $2.7 billion statewide.
Improvements to Maryland’s roads, highways and bridges are funded by local, state and federal governments. The state faces a significant shortfall in the amount of transportation funding needed to move forward with improvements to the transportation network. The Maryland Department of Transportation’s (MDOT) six-year capital spending plan shows that MDOT’s operating costs and spending outpace revenue by $1.3 billion. In addition to state transportation funding, the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), signed into law in November 2021, will provide $4.1 billion in federal funds to the state for highway and bridge investments in Maryland over five years, representing a 29 percent increase in annual federal funding for roads and bridges in the state over the previous federal surface transportation program. Federal funds currently support 32 percent of the revenue used by MDOT to fund highway and bridge improvements.
The ability of revenue from Maryland’s motor fuel tax – a critical source of state transportation funds – to keep pace with the state’s future transportation needs is likely to erode as a result of increasing vehicle fuel efficiency, the increasing use of electric vehicles and inflation in highway construction costs. The Federal Highway Administration’s national highway construction cost index, which measures labor and materials cost, increased by 46 percent from the beginning of 2022 through the first quarter of 2024.
The efficiency and condition of Maryland’s transportation system, particularly its highways, is critical to the health of the state’s economy. In 2022 Maryland’s freight system moved 305 million tons of freight, valued at $390 billion. From 2022 to 2050, freight moved annually in Maryland by trucks is expected to increase 54 percent by weight and 98 percent by value (inflation-adjusted dollars). The design, construction and maintenance of transportation infrastructure in Maryland supports approximately 77,800 full-time jobs across all sectors of the state economy. Approximately one million full-time jobs in Maryland 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.
“Maryland’s transportation dollars are already being stretched thin by increased inflation in construction costs, and the state’s existing transportation funding shortfall will make it harder to complete needed improvements,” said Dave Kearby, TRIP’s executive director. “It will be critical that Maryland adequately invest in its transportation network in order to provide a system that is smooth, safe and efficient.”