Just how bad are Pennsylvania’s roads and bridges?
According to the federal government’s Infrastructure Report Card, released Monday by the White House, each driver pays $620 a year in costs related to driving on roads in disrepair.
That’s in addition to everyday costs — gasoline, routine maintenance — related to driving.
And don’t forget the state’s 58.7-cents-per-gallon gas tax — the second-highest in the nation behind California, according to an analysis by the Washington, D.C.-based Tax Foundation.
“For decades, infrastructure in Pennsylvania has suffered from a systemic lack of investment,” according to the report, which gave the state a C- and was designed to tout President Joe Biden’s $2.3 trillion infrastructure package.
The report documented state-by-state breakdowns showing the condition of roads, bridges, the power grid and housing affordability. It also trickled into areas not related to infrastructure such as veterans’ health, clean energy jobs, home energy, child care, caregiving, manufacturing and housing.
Staying with roads and bridges and similar infrastructure, according to the report:
• Pennsylvania has seen commute times increase by 7.6% since 2011.
• Pennsylvanians who use public transportation spend about an extra 70% of their time commuting and that 22% of trains and other transit vehicles are past “useful life.” (The report did not define “useful life.”)
• The state’s drinking water infrastructure will require $16.8 billion in additional funding over the next 20 years.
The report did not go into specifics about how the federal government reached its conclusions or how specifically the money would be spent.
