A new report examining Maryland’s transportation system finds that roads that are congested, deteriorated and not as safe as they could be cost the average Baltimore area motorist $2,226 each year, while Washington, D.C., drivers lose $2,296 annually — a total of $7 billion statewide.

The report, released Feb. 1 by TRIP, a Washington, D.C.,- based national transportation organization, finds that 44 percent of Maryland’s major roads are in need of repair, more than a quarter of bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete, more than half of the state’s urban roads are congested, and Maryland’s rural traffic fatality rate is more than double that of all other roads in the state. (For a report on the state of the nation’s bridges broken down by state/interstate and city/county/township, go to www.BetterRoads.com and click on “Better Bridges.”)

According to the TRIP report, Future Mobility in Maryland: Meeting the State’s Needs for Safe and Efficient Mobility, 26 percent of Maryland’s major roads are rated in poor condition and an additional 18 percent are in mediocre condition. Seven percent of the state’s bridges are structurally deficient and 19 percent are functionally obsolete.

These bridges are inspected regularly and are safe for travel, but many are in need of rehabilitation. In addition to deteriorating road and bridge conditions, the state’s roads are also becoming increasingly crowded, as commuting and commerce are constrained by growing traffic congestion on Maryland’s major urban roads.

In 2008, 55 percent of the state’s urban highways were congested during peak travel times – the eighth highest rate in the nation. The TRIP report also finds that Maryland’s rural, non-Interstate roads have a traffic fatality rate that is nearly two and a half times higher than that on all other roads in the state.

TRIP estimates that Maryland’s roadways that lack some desirable safety features, have inadequate capacity to meet travel demands or have poor pavement conditions cost the state’s drivers about $7 billion annually in the form of traffic crashes, additional vehicle operating costs and congestion-related delays. In the Washington, D.C., metro area this cost is $2,296 per motorist each year, while the average Baltimore driver loses $2,226 annually.

Without a substantial boost in transportation funding, Maryland will be unable to complete numerous projects to improve the condition and expand the capacity of roads, bridges, and public transit systems, hampering the state’s ability to improve mobility and to enhance economic development opportunities.