San Francisco, Oakland Rank At Bottom Of List Of Driver-Friendly U.S. Cities

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) — Driving a car in Oakland or San Francisco appears to be a more daunting and expensive proposition than in virtually any major city in the U.S., according to a survey by personal finance website WalletHub.

The survey, titled 2020 Best & Worst Cities To Drive In, showed Oakland ranked dead last in a list of 100 largest cities; San Francisco ranked 98. San Jose was not too far ahead, ranked 89. The highest-ranked California city was Irvine at 59.

The survey ranked the most driver-friendly cities by measuring four main factors: cost of ownership and maintenance, traffic and infrastructure, safety, and access to vehicles and maintenance.

High gas prices were one of the major factors helping push the three Bay Area cities to the bottom of the list. Expensive auto maintenance costs in San Francisco – 96th most expensive out of 100 – contributed to SF’s lower ranking. Oakland was also ranked near the bottom in both highest accident likelihood and highest auto theft rate.

The survey cited a recent Cars.com study that says during the COVID-19 pandemic, fear of public transportation has led to more reliance on personal vehicles than usual. Due to the pandemic, 20 percent of people who don’t own a car are considering buying one.