This California city is the worst place to drive in the US, study says
California has some of the least driver-friendly cities in the nation, according to a new report from personal finance company WalletHub.
The report ranks the country’s 100 most populous cities based on how pleasant or unpleasant it is to own and drive a car there. Researchers ranked 17 California cities in the bottom half of their list, the report shows.
Oakland came in dead last, just ahead of San Francisco (98) and Los Angeles (95), according to the rankings released Tuesday.
WalletHub says it evaluated a city’s driver-friendliness based on four main factors — “cost of ownership and maintenance,” “traffic and infrastructure,” “safety” and “access to vehicles and maintenance,” according to the study’s methodology.
Oakland earned its lowly ranking by coming in at 98 in cost of ownership and maintenance, 92 in traffic and infrastructure, 85 in safety and 44 in access to vehicles and maintenance.
Other California cities and their rankings include: Irvine (59), Bakersfield (61,) Riverside (69), Anaheim (70), Chula Vista (72), Fremont (74), Fresno (75), Santa Ana (79), Long Beach (81), San Diego (82), Sacramento (85), San Jose (89), Stockton (90) and San Bernardino (93)/
While WalletHub used data from 100 of the country’s most populated cities, it excluded “cities in the surrounding metro areas,” the report says.
The study determined a city’s rank for each category “using 31 relevant metrics,” including a city’s rate of car thefts, average commute time, average gas prices and quality of roads.
Oakland and Los Angeles were among the top five cities where drivers are most likely to have a wreck and Oakland and San Bernardino were among the top five for “highest car theft rate,” according to WalletHub.
California took the top six spots for “highest average gas prices,” with San Francisco having the most expensive gas in the country, the study says.
This story was originally published September 1, 2020 at 3:30 PM with the headline "This California city is the worst place to drive in the US, study says."