Despite $1.5T in transportation spending, U.S. road conditions show only marginal improvement, new report finds
State spending on repair has increased, but record levels of roadway expansion continue to increase the repair backlog
Despite historic levels of federal transportation funding and modest shifts in state spending toward prioritizing repair, the condition of the nation’s federal-aid-eligible roadways has barely improved, according to a new report from Transportation for America and Taxpayers for Common Sense. From 2018 to 2024, the share of roads in poor condition declined only marginally, even as states continued to expand their road systems and create billions in new long-term maintenance obligations.
Repair Priorities 2026 analyzes federal and state spending alongside nationwide roadway conditions to evaluate how transportation dollars are used and whether those investments are improving outcomes. As of 2024, 16.34 percent of federal-aid-eligible roads were in poor condition, despite tens of billions of dollars spent annually on repairs between 2018 and 2024. States spent an average of 39 percent of their transportation funds on repair, compared to 25 percent on expansion over that period.
“Every time Congress passes a transportation bill, to a person they promise it will ‘fix our crumbling roads and bridges,’ but it never does because the bill they pass says nothing of the sort,” said Beth Osborne, President and CEO of Smart Growth America. “Taxpayers should be tired of watching Congress and those who draw their paycheck from the federal transportation program divide up taxpayer money to provide themselves more cash, more flexibility, and less oversight. It’s not their money, it’s the taxpayers’ money. And it is time to deliver the results that have been promised to them for decades.”
“Congress authorized $56.8 billion from the Highway Trust Fund in FY2024, more than enough to fix every poor road on the federal-aid system. Yet conditions have barely moved in decades. That’s because there are no enforceable requirements to actually spend that money on repair first. Taxpayers aren’t getting what they were promised, and with reauthorization coming, Congress has no more excuses.” – Steve Ellis, President of Taxpayers for Common Sense.
Findings from Repair Priorities include:
- The share of federal-aid-eligible roads in poor condition declined from 19 percent in 2018 to 16.34 percent in 2024
- States added nearly 113,000 lane-miles of roadway between 2018 and 2024—enough to span the U.S. 45 times—increasing long-term maintenance obligations.
- Maintaining existing roads in good condition requires $32.6B annually, with an additional $10.6B needed to address the maintenance backlog. In total, $43.2B per year is needed just to keep the system in acceptable repair
- Overall, 17 states saw an increase in the percentage of roads in poor condition from 2018 to 2024, while 31 states improved road condition, but these gains were uneven and often modest
- Nationally, the share of bridges in poor condition declined from 7.6 percent in 2018 to 6.7 percent in 2024. Still, 41,730 bridges across the 50 states remain in poor condition and require significant maintenance or rehabilitation
Federal policy gives states broad flexibility in how they spend their federal funds. And while many states have shifted the balance of more funding toward repair over the last decade, many other states are deferring maintenance in favor of roadway expansion, even while their leaders use the rhetoric of fixing “crumbling roads and bridges” to justify increased funding.
Between 2018 and 2024, the national road network grew by 112,957 lane-miles, adding an estimated $5.3 billion in new annual maintenance obligations. Unless Congress implements stronger requirements that prioritize repair for existing and new roads, this ongoing trend will continue to undermine any progress.
The report also shows significant variation across states. In some states, spending on expansion still outpaces repair by a wide margin, making them particularly vulnerable to worsening conditions. Roads are often framed as assets, but they also represent major financial liabilities requiring operational and maintenance costs over their full lifecycles.
Even where progress has been made, rising construction costs and decades of deferred maintenance mean available funding will cover an ever-smaller share of overall needs. Without a meaningful shift in priorities, the backlog of roads in poor condition will persist—and likely worsen.
The report recommends that Congress:
- Guarantees measurable improvements in road conditions tied to federal funding
- Requires states to repair their existing systems before allowing expansion of new capacity
- Improves transparency and reporting on how transportation funds are spent
Despite more than $1.5 trillion in federal transportation spending over the past 30 years, road conditions have largely stayed the same. The nation needs $43.2 billion each year just to keep the federal-aid highway system in acceptable repair. That is a significant cost, but Congress authorized $56.8 billion from the Highway Trust Fund in FY2024—more than enough to cover the cost of fixing the system. The issue is not funding. It is how the money is spent.
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