FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, January 12 2022
Contact:
Rocky Moretti 202.262.0714 (cell)
Carolyn Bonifas Kelly 703.801.9212 (cell)
Click here for the full report, news conference recording, infographics and video interview footage with report authors.
UTICA AREA MOTORISTS LOSE NEARLY $1,300 PER YEAR DRIVING ON ROADS THAT ARE ROUGH, CONGESTED & LACK SOME DESIRABLE SAFETY FEATURES – $28 BILLION STATEWIDE
Utica, NY – Roads and bridges that are deteriorated, congested or lack some desirable safety features cost New York motorists a total of $28 billion statewide annually – $1,253 per driver in the Utica urban area – due to higher vehicle operating costs, traffic crashes and congestion-related delays. Increased investment in transportation improvements at the local, state and federal levels could relieve traffic congestion, improve road, bridge and transit conditions, boost safety, and support long-term economic growth in New York, according to a new report released today by TRIP, a Washington, DC based national transportation research nonprofit.
The TRIP report, “New York Transportation by the Numbers: Meeting the State’s Need for Safe, Smooth and Efficient Mobility,” finds that throughout New York, nearly half of major locally and state-maintained roads are in poor or mediocre condition, ten percent of locally and state-maintained bridges (20 feet or more in length) are rated poor/structurally deficient, and 5,019 people lost their lives on the state’s roads from 2015-2019. New York’ major urban roads are congested, causing significant delays and choking commuting and commerce. The TRIP report includes statewide and regional pavement and bridge conditions, congestion data, highway safety data, and cost breakdowns for the Albany-Schenectady-Troy, Binghamton, Buffalo-Niagara Falls, New York-Newark-Jersey City, Poughkeepsie-Newburgh-Middletown, Rochester, Syracuse and Utica urban areas.
Driving on roads in the Utica urban area costs the average driver $1,253 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 seven percent of major locally and state-maintained roads in the Utica urban area are in poor condition and another 21 percent are in mediocre condition, costing the average motorist an additional $313 each year in extra vehicle operating costs, including accelerated vehicle depreciation, additional repair costs, and increased fuel consumption and tire wear. Statewide, 26 percent of New York’s major roads are in poor condition and 19 percent are in mediocre condition.
“Year after year this report highlights the terrible condition of our roads and bridges,” said Mark Eagan, president and CEO of the Capital Region Chamber. “The lack of infrastructure investment has real consequences for the traveling public and for our region’s economy. Thankfully with Congress’ approval of the infrastructure bill, New York State will have increased funding to improve our crumbling roads and bridges. Importantly, during her recent State of the State, Governor Hochul said that New Yorkers deserve 21st century infrastructure. I could not agree with her more.”
In the Utica urban area, ten percent of bridges are rated poor/structurally deficient, with significant deterioration to the bridge deck, supports or other major components. Statewide, ten percent of New York’ bridges are rated poor/structurally deficient.
Traffic congestion in the Utica urban area causes 17 annual hours of delay for the average motorist and costs the average driver $382 annually in lost time and wasted fuel. Utica drivers waste approximately 871,000 gallons of fuel each year due to traffic congestion, an average of seven gallons per motorist. Statewide, drivers lose $15.4 billion annually as a result of lost time and wasted fuel due to traffic congestion. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, vehicle travel in New York dropped by as much as 45 percent in April 2020 compared to vehicle travel during the same month the previous year, but rebounded to eight percent below October 2019 levels by October 2021.
“These latest findings by TRIP shed more light on the continued need to address the countless roads and bridges causing businesses and employees time and money,” said Melvin Norris, senior director of government affairs for The Business Council of New York State, Inc. “These careful studies can be used as a roadmap to finally address and solve these problems altogether. We are hopeful that the federal infrastructure package will help in solving this ongoing problem.”
Traffic crashes in New York claimed the lives 5,019 people between 2015 and 2019. New York’s overall traffic fatality rate of 0.75 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles of travel in 2019 is lower than the national average of 1.11. In the Utica urban area, on average, 17 people were killed in traffic crashes each year from 2015 to 2019. 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 $558 annually per each Utica area driver.
Improvements to New York’s roads, highways and bridges are funded by local, state and federal governments. Annual investment in roads, highways and bridges by the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) increased by 37 percent from 2018 to 2021 from approximately $4.3 billion to $6 billion. The level of NYSDOT highway investment is likely to increase further as a result of the five-year federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), signed into law in November 2021, which will increase annual federal funding for New York roads, highways and bridges by 52 percent from an average of approximately $1.8 billion annually to $2.7 billion. Federal funds currently provide 38 percent of the revenue used by NYSDOT to fund highway and bridge improvements.
“With New York State poised to receive billions in federal aid under the IIJA, New York State is strategically positioned to match its upcoming five-year capital plan to the federal government’s five-year plan,” said John Evers, president & CEO of the American Council of Engineering Companies of New York. “This is great news for our state and promises to address repairs and upgrades to current infrastructure that are long overdue.”
The efficiency and condition of New York’ transportation system, particularly its highways, is critical to the health of the state’s economy. Annually, $1 trillion in goods are shipped to and from New York, relying heavily on the state’s network of roads and bridges. Increasingly, companies are looking at the quality of a region’s transportation system when deciding where to re-locate or expand. Regions with congested or poorly maintained roads may see businesses relocate to areas with a smoother, more efficient and more modern transportation system. The design, construction and maintenance of transportation infrastructure in New York supports approximately 319,000 full-time jobs across all sectors of the state economy. Approximately 3.5 million full-time jobs in New York 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.
“Additional federal funding from the IIJA will allow New York to move forward with needed improvements to its transportation network that will make the state’s roads and bridges smoother, safer and more efficient while boosting the economy and creating jobs,” said Dave Kearby, TRIP’s executive director. “In addition to the federal investment, it will be critical that New York State continue to increase its level of transportation investment.”