BTS Home > Publications > Transportation Statistics Annual Report > 2003 > Chapter 2

Highway Condition

The condition of roads in the United States improved between 1993 and 2001.¹ For instance, the percentage of rural Interstate mileage in poor or mediocre condition declined from 35 percent in 1993 to 14 percent in 2001 (figure 83). Moreover, poor or mediocre urban Interstate mileage decreased from 42 to 28 percent over this period (figure 84).

Just over 40 percent of all U.S. urban and rural roads were in good or very good condition in 2001, while nearly 19 percent were in poor or mediocre condition. The rest were in fair condition.2 In general, rural roads are in better condition than urban roads. In 2001, for instance, 28 percent of urban road-miles were classified as poor or mediocre compared with only 15 percent of rural-miles.

See chart for Highway Functional Classification System

¹ The data presented here start at 1993; in that year the Federal Highway Administration changed to a new indicator for pavement condition. Thus, combining pre-1993 data and 1993 and later data is inappropriate.

² These percentages include all classes of roads except local roads or minor collector roads.