Report: S.C. DOT Seventh Best Overall in U.S.

The latest annual report on how well state highway departments are doing ranks South Carolina's DOT as seventh in overall performance and efficiency. This is the twentieth year the Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank and policy group, has published the report.

The rankings are based on 11 areas. South Carolina ranked first in the nation in efficiency for what it spent per mile on new bridges, and first in total spending per mile. The state ranked fourth in the nation for maintenance spending per mile, and fourth for administrative spending per mile.

But South Carolina Trucking Association president Rick Todd says those numbers are skewed.

"Probably half of the roads that are in the state DOT system, roads that they have to maintain, shouldn't really be there, and in most states they're under local control. And typically these are the less expensive roads to maintain. So, on a per-mile basis, our numbers are low because we're maintaining these non-significant local roads," he says.

The state's overall ranking was pulled down by ranking 37^th in the percentage of rural interstate miles that are in poor condition, 37^th in urban interstate congestion, and 48^th in fatality rate.

The state's ranking has also dropped, from 4^th overall in 2007 to 6^thin 2008 and to 7^th in 2009, the numbers used for the latest report.

But overall, Todd says the report shows that the SCDOT is doing a good job with your tax dollars.

"We have a good DOT," he says. "They're very efficient. There is no waste that can be cut, for all practical purposes. You're not going to pave many miles of roadway by eliminating waste at the state DOT."

You can see the entire report here. (http://reason.org/news/show/20th-annual-highway-report)

North Dakota is ranked as the most efficient state. Alaska is the least efficient. Georgia ranks twelfth and North Carolina is nineteenth.