FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, April 22, 2025
Contact:
Rocky Moretti (202) 262-0714
Carolyn Bonifas Kelly (703) 801-9212
Click here for the full report, news conference recording and infographics
OKLAHOMA MOTORISTS LOSE $6.3 BILLION PER YEAR DRIVING ON ROADS THAT ARE ROUGH, CONGESTED & LACK SOME DESIRABLE SAFETY FEATURES – UP TO $2,571 PER DRIVER ANNUALLY
Oklahoma City, OK – Roads and bridges that are deteriorated, congested or lack some desirable safety features cost Oklahoma motorists a total of $6.3 billion statewide annually – up to $2,571 per driver in some areas – 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 Oklahoma ’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, “Oklahoma Transportation By The Numbers: Providing a Modern, Efficient Transportatin Network in the Sooner State,” finds that throughout Oklahoma , nearly half of major locally and state-maintained roads are in poor or mediocre condition, eight percent of locally and state-maintained bridges (20 feet or more in length) are rated poor/structurally deficient, traffic congestion is impeding commuting and commerce, and the state’s traffic fatality rate is the ninth highest in the nation. In addition to statewide data, the TRIP report includes regional pavement and bridge conditions, congestion data, highway safety data, and cost breakdowns for the Oklahoma City and Tulsa urban areas.
Oklahoma motorists lose $6.3 billion 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 48 percent of major locally and state-maintained roads in Oklahoma are in poor or mediocre condition, costing the state’s motorists an additional $2.4 billion each year in extra vehicle operating costs, including accelerated vehicle depreciation, additional repair costs, and increased fuel consumption and tire wear.
Eight percent of Oklahoma’s bridges (1,764 of 22,917 bridges) are rated in poor/structurally deficient condition. Bridges rated in poor/structurally deficient condition have significant deterioration of the bridge deck, supports or other major components. Fifty percent of the state’s bridges are rated in fair condition and the remaining 42 percent are in good condition. Of the 6,750 bridges in the state that are maintained by ODOT, less than one percent (46 bridges) are in poor condition. Most bridges are designed to last 50 years before major overhaul or replacement, although many newer bridges are being designed to last 75 years or longer. In Oklahoma, 41 percent of the state’s bridges were built in 1969 or earlier.
In 2023, the state’s transportation system carried 45.1 billion annual vehicle miles of travel (VMT). Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, vehicle travel in Oklahoma dropped by as much as 33 percent in April 2020 (as compared to vehicle travel during the same month the previous year). By 2024, vehicle miles of travel in Oklahoma had rebounded to two percent above pre-pandemic levels in 2019. Statewide, drivers lose $2.4 billion annually as a result of lost time and wasted fuel due to traffic congestion – up to $1,124 per driver in some areas.
Traffic crashes in Oklahoma claimed the lives of 3,462 people from 2019 to 2023. In 2023, Oklahoma had 1.53 traffic fatalities for every 100 million miles traveled, the ninth highest rate in the nation and higher than the national average of 1.26. The number of traffic fatalities and the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles of travel in Oklahoma spiked dramatically in 2020 and 2021 before falling in 2022 and 2023. Traffic crashes imposed a total of $4.4 billion in economic costs in Oklahoma in 2022 and traffic crashes in which a lack of adequate roadway safety features, while not the primary factor, were likely a contributing factor, imposed $1.5 billion in economic costs. In addition to the lack of desirable roadway safety features, driver behavior – including driver impairment, seatbelt usage and distracted driving- are also major factors in traffic crashes.
“Oklahoma ranks seventh in the nation in transportation infrastructure, which shows our past investments work,” said Brent Skarky, senior vice president of communications and marketing for The State Chamber of Oklahoma. “Given our location in the country, we need to continue these investments in order to capitalize on new opportunities to grow our economy. A strong infrastructure system enables economic development and growth, so preparing and making commitments for future growth is vital to Oklahoma’s economic success.”
Improvements to Oklahoma ’s roads, highways and bridges are funded by local, state and federal governments. State transportation funds are supplemented by the federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), signed into law in November 2021. The IIJA will provide $4.4 billion in state funds for highway and bridge investments in Oklahoma over five years, representing a 29 percent increase in annual federal funding for roads and bridges in Oklahoma over the previous federal surface transportation program. Federal funds currently provide 53 percent of the revenue used by ODOT to fund highway and bridge improvements. The IIJA is set to expire on September 30, 2026.
The ability of revenue from Oklahoma ’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 68 percent from the first quarter of 2021 through the first quarter of 2024.
“As we can see by the report, investment in our state’s infrastructure needs to remain a priority,” said Bobby Stem, executive director of the Association of Oklahoma General Contractors.
The efficiency and condition of Oklahoma ’s transportation system, particularly its highways, is critical to the health of the state’s economy. In 2023 Oklahoma ’s freight system moved 431 million tons of freight, valued at $295 billion. From 2022 to 2050, freight moved annually in Oklahoma by trucks is expected to increase 53 percent by weight and 90 percent by value (inflation-adjusted dollars). The design, construction and maintenance of transportation infrastructure in Oklahoma supports approximately 51,000 full-time jobs across all sectors of the state economy. Approximately 796,000 full-time jobs in Oklahoma 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 Oklahoma 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. “Oklahoma ’s transportation dollars are already being stretched thin by increased inflation in construction costs, and without additional transportation investment, needed projects that would make the state’s roads safer, smoother and more efficient will not move forward.”