The Reason Foundation has released its 16th Annual Report on the Performance of State Highway Systems (1984–2005). The study finds that California has the worst urban congestion in the nation (88.83%), meaning that over half of our urban interstates are congested.

"California reported 18,230 miles of state-owned highway in 2005. Compared to 2000 the state improved slightly from 45th in 2000 to 44th in 2005 in the overall rankings. The state ranked best in bridge condition (10th) and fatality rate (19th). But California has the worst urban interstate congestion (50th). It also scored low in administrative disbursements per mile of responsibility (48th), receipts per mile of responsibility (45th), capital/bridge disbursements per mile of responsibility (44th), maintenance per mile of responsibility (44th), urban interstate condition (44th), total disbursements per mile of responsibility (43rd) and rural interstate condition (43rd). Overall, California’s relatively high costs per mile of responsibility are not translating into high performance."

The study compared state highway budgets (per mile of responsibility) with system performance. States ranked high typically have good-condition systems and relatively small budgets.

Read the press release and full study.