It may surprise those who question motorists’ ability to merge, but Perth has been ranked among the top cities in the world in which to drive.

A comprehensive study by German automotive parts retailer Kfzteile24 looked at 500 cities with the highest number of registered vehicles and used various data to create a list of 100 ranging from the best to the worst.

Dusseldorf in Germany took out the top position, while Kolkata in India was the worst at No.100.

Perth was rated No.19 overall — beating other Australian cities including Brisbane, which just made the best list at No.45. It was downhill for Melbourne, at No.55, Adelaide (57) and Sydney (61).

“To make a comparable quantification of how good or bad each city is to drive, we made a three-step evaluation of the data,” Kfzteile24 said.

A mathematical equation was used to calculate the score, with the study examining the congestion level, public transport options, costs of parking and petrol, road rage, fatalities and injuries, air pollution, road quality and the average speed between the city centre and the international airport.

A breakdown of each category showed congestion in Perth was 27 per cent; compared to 69 per cent in Kolkata (the highest) and 19 per cent in Bern, Switzerland, which had the lowest.

On a scale of one (worst) to 10 (best), Perth’s public transport scored 5.21; while Tokyo achieved a perfect score, followed by London on 9.91. Ulaanbaatarin in Mongolia scored one.

The road rage rating for Perth was 8.29. Tempers must be high in St Petersburg, with the Russian city scoring the worst with one, compared to 10 for Helsinki in Finland and Bordeaux in France.

Kfzteile24 said the aim of the study was to enrich debate about modern mobility and encourage cities to learn from positive urban engagement and legislation.

Camera Icon Michael Gizzarelli prefers to park his car and catch the train into the city each day. Credit: The West Australian/Steve Ferrier

Michael Gizzarelli has caught the train from Stirling into the city each weekday for the past three years and said it took him a while to get used to public transport, but he now enjoyed the hassle-free ride.

“Over the years I’ve found that the freeway has become increasingly very congested, particularly in the afternoon when it’s just mayhem,” he said.

Mr Gizzarelli, who works on construction at the Ritz-Carlton development at Elizabeth Quay, said it cost $12 a day to commute, which was easier and cheaper than parking in the CBD.

“The public transport options score affects the quality of driving in a city because if there are poor public transport alternatives then there is no other option than for people to drive their cars, leading to increased congestion, faster degradation of road quality and increased road rage,” Kfzteile24 said.

“The score was calculated based on the length of the rapid transit system and suburban railway network for each city, with more kilometres of metro rail per capita equating to a higher score.”