South Carolina needs to generate more money for its state roadways or the maintenance and improvement of those roads will deteriorate, a new report says.

South Carolina ranks 48th in the nation on per-person transportation spending, the report from Clemson University's Strom Thurmond Institute of Government and Public Affairs found.

It also found that South Carolina, with 41,518 miles of state-maintained roads out of nearly 64,000 miles of roads statewide, has comparatively more roads and less money to spend on them.

The report, which examined Federal Highway Adminis-
tration data to see how other states fund roads, bridges and highways, predicts a growing gap between the highways' needs and funding unless new revenue sources are found, said researcher Ellen Saltzman.

The state Department of Transportation gets 92 percent of its state funding from the state gasoline tax, which now is almost 17 cents per gallon, Saltzman said. Only five states have a lower gas tax, and the last time the state increased the gas tax was in 1987.

"We have a very low rate, but we're very dependent on the gas tax," Saltzman said. A higher gas tax rate isn't enough because the state is too dependent on this single source of revenue, she said.

There are bills that address funding for roads, but state Sen. Larry Martin, R-Pickens, said the timing is bad because of the tobacco-tax-for-Medicaid debate.

"It's real difficult to sell more than one tax at a time," Martin said. "I don't sense among the members of the Senate that there's enough support to do both."

A new report from the state Department of Transportation says it will cost $57 billion to cover road and transportation needs that are identified in a 20-year state plan, Saltzman said.

Currently anticipated funding is slightly more than $11 billion, she said, which leaves a $46 billion revenue shortfall.

"We've got to have some money there to keep those roads in good shape and improve them," Martin said. "If we don't address it, we'll get so far behind, it will create a more ominous problem for us down the road."

This new report is similar to a separate report to the governor and the legislature from the Business Alliance for Transportation, which recommends increasing the gasoline tax, vehicle registration and driver's license fees.

The alliance report said the state has the nation's fourth-largest state-maintained road system.