Car Damage From Poor Roads Is Major Expense In Many US Cities

Did you know that crappy roads inflict more than $700 in car damage annually for the average driver in Los Angeles, but less than $70 in Atlanta?

This jarring bit of data comes from “Rough Roads Ahead,” a new report by AASHTO (the venerable American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials) detailing the condition of the country’s automotive byways.

The gist of “Rough Roads Ahead” is the same as all reports on the subject of our national infrastructure: we built it a long time ago, it’s starting to fall apart, and each year we neglect to make repairs on a declining asset the eventual pricetag increases dramatically. (Which is all true, of course.)

But, as the opening grabber factoid suggests, the misery is not evenly distributed. Drivers in the southeastern US have it pretty easy. Urban dwellers in California and the Tri-State region get a double helping of potholes.

We’ll have more to say about this report. But for now, here are the priciest US cities in terms road-inflicted automobile damage. Locals, have you included this amount in your budget this year?

Cities with highest car operating costs due to rough roads
Los Angeles $746
San Jose $732
San Francisco - Oakland $705
Tulsa $703
Honolulu $688
San Diego $664
Concord, CA $656
New York - Newark $638
Riverside - San Bernardino, CA $632
Oklahoma City $631
Sacramento $622
New Orleans $622
Palm Springs - Indio, CA $608
Omaha $592
Baltimore $589
Albuquerque $576
Mission Viejo, CA $571
San Antonio $529
Detroit $525
Philadelphia $525

The most benign urban roads in the country are in Atlanta – a paving-happy city in a warm climate–burdening the average driver with only $68 in operating costs per year. In second place is Jacksonville at $123, followed close behind by Sarasota, Tampa/St. Pete, Miami, and Columbus.

The places with the best roads aren’t that surprising (except Columbus). But some of the places with the most punishing roads are tougher to figure. Seven of the bottom ten are places that never–or almost never–freeze. Given that freezing both creates potholes and requires the use of corrosive salt, it’s strange that the worst roads aren’t all in cold places like Buffalo and Milwaukee.

So, Honolulu, for instance? In this case, a state transportation official puts the blame for that on ten years of neglect. “There wasn’t a lot of money going into road maintenance. … Once the road starts to deteriorate, it accelerates,” he says. Which is actually a good executive executive summary of the report.