Etc.

Why North Dakota can claim bragging rights for its roads

When it comes to ranking road systems, as the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank in Los Angeles, does, states with less traffic and more wide-open highways generally fare best. Still, a more populous state such as Georgia (6th) managed to make the Top 10 in the foundation's latest study. The rankings, which take cost effectiveness into account, are based on performance in 12 other criteria on state-owned roads and highways between 1984 and 2005. Among them: congestion, traffic fatalities, condition of pavement and bridges, maintenance, and administrative costs. The state needing the most improvement, says the foundation, is New Jersey, which finished last for the eighth straight year because of poor pavement and high repair costs. The states with the best-rated road systems:

• 1. North Dakota
• 2. South Carolina
• 3. Kansas
• 4. New Mexico
• 5. Montana
• 6. Georgia
• 7. Wyoming
• 8. Oregon
• 9. Nevada
• 10. Idaho