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COLUMBIA -- A UNC-Charlotte professor says there's nothing wrong with his ranking of South Carolina's highway agency as second most cost-effective in the nation, despite criticism included in an audit report on the agency.

Professor David T. Hartgen's annual rankings, published last month by the Reason Foundation, reported SCDOT ranked behind only North Dakota and ahead of Kansas.

DOT executive director Elizabeth Mabry has trumpeted the ranking in defending her agency from criticism and a critical management audit by the state's Legislative Audit Council.

Auditors reported that the source of data used for the rankings carries a warning that it shouldn't be used for comparative purposes due to inconsistencies and state-to-state differences. The audit says "it could be misleading and misunderstood by the public."

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Mabry told senators looking at the audit last week that criticism of the ranking was "very disappointing."

"We're proud of that ranking," she said. "This is the only ranking there is."

Hartgen said his highway system analysis is a fair one and is based on more than just budgets and road miles.

Hartgen also said a $230,000 contract between his department and SCDOT, signed in 2004, had nothing to do with the ranking.

He said the contract paid for a study of South Carolina traffic forecasting, right-of-way purchasing and economic growth and its relation to highway investments. He said the economic growth analysis is ongoing and the entire study should be completed by next spring.

"It's a fairly straightforward university type of research project," he said. "It doesn't have anything to do with the project selection process or pavement condition rankings or any of that."

He said the $230,000 project is "small potatoes" compared to other work his department does around the country.

South Carolina ranked third most cost-effective in last year's study.

Some highway commissioners and lawmakers have been skeptical of the ranking since the state cares for the fourth-largest system of state-maintained roads in the nation and receives the least funding per mile.

South Carolina's gas tax hasn't been raised since 1987. Some commissioners and lawmakers have said the ranking is simply a matter of a ratio between so little resources and so many roads.

But Hartgen, who has been ranking state highway systems for 15 years, said what has kept South Carolina near the top of the ranks in recent years has been the good condition of the state's road system.

"They have a lot of responsibility and not much resources to work with," he said. "And the system is in pretty good shape. What gets them close to the top is the good condition of the system."

The rankings are based on 12 indicators, including state revenues and expenditures, pavement and bridge conditions, congestion, accident rates and narrow lanes.

Hartgen said the disclaimer used by federal transportation officials not to compare state data is the result of states' desires not to be ranked and not a problem with the data.

The federal government, not professors, should be comparing states' transportation systems, he said.

"I've told the federal highway administration on many occasions that they are obviating their responsibility to taxpayers by not comparing state highway systems," he said.