Where Canada ranks in car dependency

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A study has found that Canada is one of the most vehicle-dependent countries in the world.

When ranking countries based on adequate access to public transportation, the efficiency of public transportation, amount of rail transportation and cost of taxis, Canada ranked fourth in the world when it comes to relying on vehicles to get around.

With a score of 7.14 out of 10, Canada was behind New Zealand (8.48), Greece (7.62) and Argentina (7.36). By comparison, the United States placed eighth with a score of 5.89.

The data was compiled by Confused.com, an insurance and financial rates comparison website.

Rail transportation lines are lacking in Canada when compared to other countries. Only New Zealand’s 776.6 million km and Greece’s 1.3 billion km of rail lines are fewer than Canada’s 1.7 billion km, despite Canada’s vast geographical size and much larger population. By comparison, Italy has 56.6 billion km of line, while the U.S. has 32.5 billion.

Still, the efficiency of both Canada’s public transport service and rail service scored second in each category. Its score of 4.7 out of 7 trailed only the U.S. with its score of 5.5 in rail service. In public transportation efficiency, Canada scored 5 out of 7, again only railing the U.S., which scored 5.7.

Canadians pay some of the highest costs when it comes to transportation costs, according to the research’s price index. With 100 being the global average, Canada came in at 125.55, placing it fifth behind Belgium (141.05), New Zealand (139.05), Italy (135.37) and Australia (132.55).