Sydney is the most stressful Aussie city to drive in, followed by Adelaide – and according to a new study, the NSW capital also ranks sixth in the world, just behind metropolises like Los Angeles, London and New York. 

Insurance giant Compare the Market’s look at the most stressful cities examined 79 locations across Australia and the world and judged each of them on six factors including traffic congestion, journey times, parking and speed. Each location was given a mark out of 100 and the higher that number, the more stressful it is to drive there.

4

In news that will surprise few locals, Sydney was the worst spot down under with a score of 56.54 – markedly ahead of the next Aussie city, but far behind the worst in the world: Dublin, with a mark of 68.38. Compare the Market found that the average commute in the harbour city takes 43.52 minutes with 43.7 per cent congestion and 140 adverse weather days per year.

Next on the Aussie stress-O-meter is Adelaide on 51.15, driven by its congestion of 55.1 per cent, which easily beats Sydney’s, despite “recording much lower parking difficulty” than its NSW counterpart. 

Melbourne follows on 50.17 with 52.9 per cent congestion, an average commute of 42.06 minutes and an average speed of just 26.3km/h. However, the Bleak City’s parking difficulty was the best in the study at 1.83, with the study’s authors pointing out that the mark demonstrates “how stress is built upon by numerous factors, even when one aspect of driving may be positive”.

The rest of the Aussie rankings are: Brisbane on 49.21, the Gold Coast on 49.01, Hobart on 47.20, Newcastle on 48.41, Perth on 43.34, Wollongong on 38.91, Canberra on 38.62 and Darwin on 30.88.

5

Following Dublin on the international side of the ledger is Los Angeles on 61.76, then London on 58.03, New York on 57.98, San Francisco on 56.82, Sydney, then Zurich, Miami Chicago and Brussels rounding out the top 10.

“Our research into the most stressful cities to drive in shows that there’s rarely one single cause. Instead, drivers are often facing several pressures at the same time,” said Compare the Market chief executive of general insurance Adrian Taylor.

“Planning ahead can help to reduce some of that driving stress, whether that means allowing extra time for your journey, checking traffic and weather conditions before setting off or researching parking options in advance.”

In February last year, Compare the Market’s research showed that Australia is the second-most stressful place in the world to drive, just behind Romania. Parking costs down under were found to be the highest on the planet, but our congestion rate and low road fatalities beat out several other countries.