Motorists in California, Minnesota, New Jersey and North Carolina have been stuck in some of the worst traffic in the U.S, according to a study released Thursday.
North Dakota and South Carolina roads rated highest in the study’s overall rankings, while New Jersey roads ranked the lowest. The study ranked Montana highways as the deadliest in the nation.
The study, based on data from 1984 through 2005, found that while road conditions have improved in recent years, traffic congestion and highway fatalities have increased slightly.
The state-by-state evaluation of highways was conducted by the University of North Carolina at Charlotte and financed by the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank based in L.A.
The study ranked highway systems in each state according to their cost-effectiveness, which was determined with several factors including traffic fatalities, congestion, pavement condition, bridge condition, highway maintenance and administrative costs. Evaluations were done on highways and all state-owned roads.
The five states with the most cost-effective roads, according to the study, are North Dakota, South Carolina, Kansas, New Mexico and Montana. The bottom five states are New Jersey, Alaska, New York, Rhode Island and Hawaii.
