A new report from the Department of Transportation projects that the U.S. needs $101 billion annually plus increases for inflation during the next 20 years from all levels of government to maintain the nation's highway and transit systems.


The report, 2010 Status of the Nation's Highways, Bridges and Transit: Conditions and Performance , also identifies opportunities for investments to improve the current state of highways and bridges that could total up to $170 billion a year. It shows that in 2008, all levels of government - local, state and federal - spent a combined total of $91.1 billion on highway capital improvements, a 48.4% increase from 2000.

The Obama Administration's FY 2013 budget request calls for $305 billion for highway programs over six years, a 34% increase for roads and bridges from the previous authorization.

"We see significant improvements with every dollar," says Federal Highway Administrator Victor Mendez. "The President called on us to create an America built to last, and while we have a long way to go to upgrade our nation's highways and bridges, we owe it to future generations to get to work and make it happen."

Conditions and Performanceis a biennial report to Congress that provides information on the physical and operating characteristics of the highway, bridge and transit components of the nation's surface transportation system.