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MASS. EXPERIMENT STATION BULLETIN 256 



capita payments for highways are three times as large as the average for 

 cities. 



Comparatively large highway costs in rural towns are significant for two 

 reasons. First, if the town spends the largest part of its income for highways 

 other functions may suffer, which means that rural towns are unable to enjoy 

 certain services available to larger towns and cities. In 1926, 51 per cent of 

 the expenditures of the 44 towns of less than 500 population was for highways. 



The rural towns have more miles of road per taxpayer than the more 

 densely populated towns, and the assessed valuation per mile of road is lower. 

 This means that with equal tax rates for highway purposes, the roads can not 

 be kept in as good condition as in towns where the assessed valuation per mile 

 of road is high. In respect to highways, small towns are therefore under a 

 double disadvantage in that they spend proportionally more for roads than 

 larger towns and receive less in service because of a lower expenditure per 

 mile which may leave roads in poorer condition. 



The Significance of High Costs for Highways 



Large expenditures for highways have been justified by the increased ease 

 of transportation. Massachusetts has a high percentage of surfaced roads, 

 which has materially reduced cost of intra-state transportation. The network 

 of State highways, largely constructed during the past ten years, has opened 

 relatively isolated farming districts and has expanded the farmers' market 

 area in all directions. Fruit and vegetable growers now haul their products 

 from the Connecticut Valley to Boston, a distance of 100 miles. Farmers in 

 the hill towns of the western part of the state now sell fluid milk, collected at 

 the door, instead of cream and butter, thereby increasing their farm income. 

 The area supplying perishable food stufiFs to our cities has been much increased 

 through motor transportation and good roads. Roadside selling by farmers has 

 been made possible by the expansion of the highway system. 



Increasing expenditures for better roads have brought substantial returns. 



