Economics

ECONOMIC BENEFIT

Investment in roadway safety yields high returns.

Did you know….

• traffic congestion costs American motorists $63.1 billion per year in wasted time and fuel costs and that Americans spend 3.7 billion hours a year stuck in traffic?
• a billion dollar investment in roadway safety will save 1,700 lives and eliminate 83,000 injuries over the life of the project (approximately 10 years)?
• federal legislation (SAFETEA-LU) includes roadway safety programs to aggressively counteract the direct causes of roadway injuries and deaths identifying areas where crashes occur and using relatively low-cost countermeasures to achieve benefits?

Economic Benefit Facts: 

• The overall economic benefit of investing in low cost roadway safety solutions is 10.8 times when taking into account the value of life.
• Economic activity generated from $1 invested in roadway safety improvements is $2.47.
• A billion dollars invested in roadway safety improvements provides economic stimulus to create approximately 47,500 new jobs for a total of $1,524 million in wages and benefits; new tax revenues at the state and local levels generate $134 million.