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How good are American roads?

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193 points chmaynard | 2 comments | 20 Nov 24 14:45 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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nickjj ◴[20 Nov 24 21:06 UTC] No.42198102[source]▶
It's interesting New Hampshire leads the way for interstate highways and it is a 0% income tax state.

I live in NY but I went to New Hampshire last month for the first time. I have to say the roads were really good, even in more remote areas in the White Mountain region. Heck even the dirt road I had to go on for 1.5 miles was in good shape for a Hyundai Elantra rental car.

On the flip side, the roads near me are really bad in some spots. It's torn up pavement with massive pot holes for years in a decently trafficked area literally 1 minute away from a major highway.

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justin66 ◴[20 Nov 24 21:12 UTC] No.42198166[source]▶
> It's interesting New Hampshire leads the way for interstate highways and it is a 0% state tax area.

You're talking about the state income tax? It'd be unusual for any state to use much of that money for roads. There are a lot of other tax revenue sources dedicated specifically to that purpose.

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1. nickjj ◴[20 Nov 24 21:31 UTC] No.42198319[source]▶
> You're talking about the state income tax?

Yep thanks, I updated my post to reflect that.

You oftentimes hear road quality being thrown around in relation to what you pay in income tax or taxes in general. That is all hearsay though.

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2. justin66 ◴[21 Nov 24 00:02 UTC] No.42199514[source]▶
Yeah, I don't really understand that, but I don't doubt it is true.

I'm in a state where the state and federal gas tax as well as vehicle registration and vehicle sales tax (ugh) cover the cost of road maintenance, but it's certainly not because we don't pay a state income tax. So, one of those deals that varies by state or one of those things that's widely misunderstood - I couldn't say.

(one of the annoying things about our taxation is that owning a hybrid or electric entails a more expensive vehicle registration since you're not going to be paying as much in gas taxes. $100/yr more for a hybrid. Yuck.)