This report is the fourth edition of the State of the Transportation System issued by ODOT. This document serves much like a corporation’s annual report to its shareholders. In this document, the corporation - ODOT - reports to its shareholders - the public - how it spends their money and why. The report also summarizes the major trends on Ohio’s huge transportation system and it reports how ODOT responds to those trends. The system condition changes noted in this report are used to determine how the department will allocate the approximately $2 billion it spends each year. The major trends noted this year include:

• ODOT for the first time in a decade is reporting significant improvement in the pavement conditions on its high-volume interstate highways and other freeways. The department has focused an unprecedented amount of money and number of projects on these routes because of their critical importance to the state’s mobility. ODOT now expects to reduce by more than half the number of pavement deficiencies on the multi-lane system by 2004.

• ODOT’s bridge conditions are good and getting better. Deficiencies on the department’s 14,960 bridge inventory continue to fall.

• Pavement conditions on the two-lane rural and urban system are minimally adequate but probably will not improve based on current levels of spending.

• Accident rates in Ohio continue to fall on a per-mile-traveled basis. Increased traffic, however, has raised the number of accidents.

• Transit ridership is growing again after several years of decline. New transit facilities and service are integrated into major urban revitalization efforts in many of Ohio’s major cities. However, transit ridership still reflects a diminishing percentage of total trips made in Ohio.

• Ohio added rural transit service in nine additional counties in the past two years. These services provide transportation to low-income and elderly people in rural communities.

• Ohio’s network of local airports report continuing deterioration in runway pavement conditions. Deficiencies on runways continue to rise.

• The overriding transportation trend in Ohio is congestion. Although ODOT has adequate and stable bridge and pavement conditions, the level and intensity of congestion continues to rise. Overall traffic volumes - and particularly truck volumes - continue to grow much faster than the department’s ability to provide new capacity. The growth in congestion continues to overshadow all other trends that ODOT monitors.

• ODOT’s delivery of construction projects continues to set new records. The department let to bid more than $1.1 billion worth of projects in State Fiscal Year 2000, the largest program in history. ODOT is on track for a $1.2 billion program in SFY 2001

• ODOT will pursue a number of new initiatives in 2001. Included will be an effort to measure and manage congestion, continue to improve basic roadway conditions, better plan rural highway needs, re-emphasize excellence in snow and ice treatment and better communication with transportation stakeholders.