The city of Garland is proud to be ranked No. 9 in a WalletHub study that determined the best 100 largest U. S. cities for drivers. In an article released after the rankings were published, city staff wrote:
“This showcases the efforts the City of Garland makes to fulfill our mission to provide high-quality service to our residents. We have many ongoing and upcoming road projects to help facilitate your drive throughout our city.”
Methodology
To determine the best and worst cities for drivers, Wallethub compared a sample of the 100 most populated U.S. cities across four key dimensions. Those include: 1) Cost of ownership and maintenance, 2) Traffic and infrastructure, 3) Safety and 4) Access to vehicles and maintenance. Their sample considered only the city proper in each case and excluded cities in the surrounding metro area.
The organization then evaluated those dimensions using 30 relevant metrics with their corresponding weights. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for drivers. In the next step they determined each city’s weighted average across all metrics to calculate its overall score. Then, the organization used the resulting scores to rank-order our sample. The entire study is available online.
North Texas cities that made the top 100 list:
- 1st place- Plano
- 8th place– Arlington
- 9th place – Garland
- 17th place – Irving
- 44th place – Dallas
Eleven Texas 11 cities are on the top 100 list.
This ranking is important for several reasons:
- Most Americans rely heavily on their personal cars for transportation.
- According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics, 87% of daily trips are in personal vehicles.
- Driving one’s personal car is more comfortable. However, it can also be a major expense.
- Drivers spend an annual average of more than 360 hours on the road.
With the large expense and amount of time American drivers spend in their cars, why not live in a city ranked near the top of the “best for drivers” list?”