Half the world doesn't have pavement... And potholes are almost always created due to extreme weather (very hot -> very cold -> repeat).
My parents recall potholes so bad it'd destroy your car in the 80s. Concrete and the ability to fill potholes have improved over time. There's little reason to assume it's any worse than before, except some roads need replacement... but if you don't replace it (or prior to building the road) it was clearly worse.
In regions with colder winters, it's typically a function of freeze/thaw cycles. Water gets inside cracks, freezes, and the expansion breaks up the pavement. Then it thaws and softens, and traffic knocks bits loose. Then more water gets in the now bigger cracks, it freezes again and the cycle repeats, but a little worse this time. Then again and again.
Saying "Half the world doesn't have pavement" is like saying "Eat your broccoli, because some children halfway around the world are starving." It doesn't change the fact that we used to be able to do routine maintenance that covered this, and now we don't.
Did you read the rest of the comment? It's not clear it's worse than before.
> It doesn't change the fact that we used to be able to do routine maintenance that covered this, and now we don't.
When you first build a road you don't need to do said maintenance. So as we expand the number of roads and convert them from gravel to concrete, you'll have more potholes. It's not clear it's any worse per-mile of concrete road than before. But even if it was "worse" we have significantly more road than say 30 years ago.
Maybe I'm zeroing in on a much shorter term; the potholes, winter reflectors, and other various road items are clearly worse than say, five years ago. 30 years, maybe not; expectations in the world of phone booths were way different.
My parents recall potholes so bad it'd destroy your car in the 80s. Concrete and the ability to fill potholes have improved over time. There's little reason to assume it's any worse than before, except some roads need replacement... but if you don't replace it (or prior to building the road) it was clearly worse.
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