Poor road conditions cost each Hawaii driver about $503 a year — the third-highest average in the nation — in the form of vehicle depreciation, repairs, increased fuel consumption and other costs, according to a new national report on the state’s transportation system.

The report, released this morning, also finds about 43 percent of Hawaii’s bridges are deficient or obsolete, while 45 percent of Hawaii’s major roads are congested and 27 percent are rated in poor condition.
“The future of Hawaii’s roads, bridges and transportation network is now being placed in jeopardy,” said Will Wilkins, executive director of TRIP, which put together the report.
At a news conference this morning, Wilkins also said that the state and federal government need to invest more money to address backlogged needs along with preventative maintenance.
So far, he said, funding for the transportation network has fallen fall short of what’s needed.
The state Department of Transportation agrees.
DOT Director Brennon Morioka said nothing in the report — titled “Future Mobility in Hawaii: Meeting the State’s Need for Safe and Efficient Mobility” — comes as a surprise.
Morioka said the state is looking at ways to address deficiencies by seeking more state and federal funding.
“You really don’t need a report to tell people that they’re sitting in traffic,” he said at the news conference this morning.
Morioka added that the report helps to “validate and quantify” the scope of problems. “I think the public is demanding some change,” he said.
The TRIP study was conducted using state DOT figures along with Census and other statistics. TRIP, a nonprofit organization, was founded in 1971 and is funded by insurance companies, businesses involved in highways and labor unions, Wilkins said.
TRIP has conducted hundreds of reports on the state of the nation’s highways.
For more information on the group, go to:
www.tripnet.org.