Tucson Has Some of the Worst Roads in the Nation

Outside of California, there's no big city with worse roads than Tucson. TRIP, a transportation research group, says Tucson ranks fifth in the nation among large cities for highest percentage of roads in "poor" condition -- 53 percent. Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Jose, and San Diego were the only big cities (population more than 500,000) to beat out Tucson, and out of smaller cities, only Antioch, California, and Reno, Nevada, had a higher percentage. If you've been to Tucson at any time over the last decade, this probably isn't surprising. The TRIP report estimates that 27 percent of all the nation's major urban roads are in "substandard" condition, meaning Tucson's about twice as bad as the national average. Phoenix was right around average, with 30 percent of its roads in poor condition. This was all done using 2011 Federal Highway Administration data. TRIP says these roads "provide an unacceptably rough ride to motorists." The organization estimates that these roads cause car owners to pay for more vehicle repairs, and figures that Tucson has the seventh-highest vehicle operating costs in the nation.