Arlington Ranks No. 19 on WalletHub’s Best Cities to Drive in List
Arlington was ranked No. 19 on WalletHub’s new list of the Best Cities to Drive In.
To determine which places offer cheaper, smoother and safer driving experiences, WalletHub compared 100 of the largest U.S. cities across 30 key indicators of driver-friendliness. The data set ranged from average gas prices to annual hours in traffic congestion per auto commuter to the likelihood of accidents.
As part of the study, the personal finance website compared a sample of the 100 most populated U.S. cities across four key dimensions:
- Cost of Ownership & Maintenance
- Traffic & Infrastructure
- Safety
- Access to Vehicles & Maintenance
Cities were evaluated on those dimensions using 30 relevant metrics. Each metric was graded on a 100-point scale, with a score of 100 representing the most favorable conditions for drivers.
Arlington’s total score was 58.46 in the study, with the Texas cities of Corpus Christi, Plano, Lubbock also making the top 20 of Best Cities to Drive In.
Among the factors evaluated for Arlington’s traffic and infrastructure were the quality of roads and bridges. In Fiscal Year 2024, the Public Works Department budgeted $28.7 million for street maintenance and $61.9 million for construction to improve the ride for commuters across the 99-square-mile city.
Public Works uses a scoring system of Red, Yellow or Green to determine what roads need attention and what type of repair technique to use on each to prevent deterioration and costly rebuilds. The City’s policy is to perform maintenance or rebuild the streets rated Red, which is the worst condition, first in order to achieve a more balanced street network over time. Maintenance is also performed on streets rated Yellow.
Currently, 82% of Arlington’s 3,015 lane miles of streets are rated Yellow or Green.
Safety was another factor in the ranking. As part of the Safe Streets Arlington initiative, the City is prioritizing projects that improve safety for all roadway users as part of our regular street maintenance and construction projects. Click here to visit the Safe Streets Arlington webpage to learn more.
Click here to read the WalletHub study.
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