Investment in Rural Roads: Willingness-to-Pay for Improved Gravel Road Service in Freight Transportation

The contents of this report reflect the views of the authors, who are responsible for the facts and accuracy of the information presented herein. This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program, in the interest of information exchange. The U.S. government assumes no liability for the contents or use thereof. iEXECUTIVE SUMMARY North Dakota, as well as other Great Plains states, relies heavily on agriculture for economic viability. Transport of commodities from farm to market is an important issue and one where research is needed. As funding for rural roads is decreasing, the need for improvements and maintenance of rural roads used for agricultural freight transportation is increasing. Producers are using bigger, heavier trucks to move products to market which could have negative impacts on rural road conditions. Although it is obvious that these rural roads are in need of improvements, it is unknown exactly what rural road services producers think are most important and if producers would pay more for bettering these services. In addition, it is not known what methods farmers believe would be best for financing such improvements. The objective of this report is to ascertain information on user willingness-to-pay for improving service on gravel roads and user perceptions of funding for improving freight transportation services, such as roa