How Much Do Tennessee’s Crumbling Roads Cost Drivers? One Study Says $1,600 A Year

If you’re a Nashvillian, ailing roads and bridges probably cost you an extra $1,600 per year.

That added expense comes from damage to vehicles and crashes caused by deficient roads, as well as time and fuel wasted in heavy traffic. Those are the findings in a new study released Tuesday by The Road Information Program, or TRIP, a road conditions research firm. 

According to TRIP, a fifth of Nashville’s roads are classified as either poor or mediocre, and 
4 percent of its
 bridges are considered structurall
y deficient.
 The low quality of the roadways results in an estimated $239 in annual maintenance fees for each vehicle.

The report also notes Tennessee’s traffic fatality rate (1.40 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled)
 exceeds the national average (1.09 fatalities per 100 million vehicle miles traveled)
. However, state numbers have shown a steady decline in this rate over time. 

TRIP’s study says that the state of Nashville’s infrastructure is not only a safety issue, but also an expensive problem. Traffic delays alone cost each driver around $1,200 per year, as well as 
add an estimated 45 hours to a commuter’s average annual time spent traveling. 

The study points to the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, passed by Congress in December, as an insufficient federal attempt to improve road conditions. TRIP suggests that the FAST Act lacks the necessary funding to pay for even the construction projects that spurred the act in the first place.

“These conditions are only going to get worse if greater funding is not made available at the local, state and federal levels,” Will Wilkins, TRIP’s executive director, said in a statement.