The nation's roadway infrastructure is crumbling, but there's one sunny exception: the state of Florida. The Washington Post reports that Florida's roads and bridges are in some of the best shape in the nation. That's in part thanks to favorable weather, but also to a relatively high gasoline tax and road tolls which directly fund road maintenance.
According to a White House report, 65 percent of the nation's roads are considered to be in "less than good" condition, but here in Florida just 4 percent of our roads are in disrepair, amongst the lowest in the nation.
Twenty-five percent of the nation's bridges are in need of repair or considered obsolete. That number is just 17 percent in Florida.
Both numbers are among the lowest in the country, with only a handful of states having better rates.
So what keeps Florida's roads in shape? Our moderate climate helps. The Florida sun may make asphalt hot enough to fry an egg on it, but it's actually freezing temperatures that cause roads to crack.
The Post also points out that Florida's gas tax, currently at 36 cents a gallon, is the 11th highest in the nation. The state also has a lot of toll roads whose prices continue to increase. All that revenue is put back into road maintenance. In some states road maintenance money comes from their general fund, where as in Florida 68.8 percent comes from tolls and gas taxes.
In return, though, Floridians pay only about $181 per year to maintain their cars. There's nine states, all with bad roadways, where drivers pay more than $500 a year on car maintenance.
Funny how Tallahassee is full of anti-tax Republicans, but in some cases taxes and tolls actually seem to work.
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