Birmingham was ranked as the 18th best city to drive in in a recent study of the 100 most populated U.S. cities conducted by personal finance website WalletHub. This contrasts a study by coworking management platform Yardi Kube published earlier this year ranking the metro as the eighth most unfriendly location for commuters and the environment.

So which study is correct? Local urban analyst Christopher Burks, who also serves on the Birmingham Planning Commission, says the answer is parts of both. He added that road safety is where the region needs improvement regardless of either study.

The case for WalletHub

One thing that local leaders can take from the WalletHub study, Burks said, is Birmingham’s low safety ranking, which came in just three places above dead last in the list.

“The main factor dragging Birmingham’s driver rating down is safety,” he said. “Birmingham’s safety problem is a major outlier that needs more attention from political leadership. Birmingham’s leaders should reevaluate these safety metrics: accident likelihood, traffic fatality rate, share of adults wearing seatbelts, number of hard-braking events, share of uninsured drivers, rate of car thefts, and the rate of larceny.”