A report being released today estimates that poor roads in Louisiana cost motorists $6.5 billion annually.
The costs come through additional vehicle operating costs, congestion-related delays, and crashes.
The report comes from TRIP, a national nonprofit transportation research group based in Washington, DC.
The group claims deficient roads in the New Orleans area cost motorists $2,200 per year. Poor roads in Baton Rouge cost drivers an estimated $2,500.
The report, Louisiana Transportation by the Numbers: Meeting the State’s Need for Safe, Smooth and Efficient Mobility, examines road and bridge conditions, congestion, economic development, highway safety, and transportation funding in Louisiana.
There has been some discussion in Baton Rouge about raising the state's 20-cent per gallon gas tax to generate the money needed to fund a backlog of some $13 billion in road and bridge improvements that are needed statewide. The gas tax was last raised in 1989.