Sydney commuters are bigger users of public transport than other Australian urban dwellers, but that doesn't mean they like it.

The proportion of Sydneysiders using mass transit to travel to work is the highest of all Australia's big cities, yet only a quarter agree it has good transport infrastructure, the State of Australian Cities 2012 report says.

The federal report gives a snapshot of the country's largest city, home to 4,605,993 people by 2011.

Sydneysiders are the least satisfied in their public transport, with only 27 per cent describing it as "good", according to the study, released by Infrastructure Minister Anthony Albanese on Tuesday. Nevertheless, 67 per cent use their cars to get to work - the lowest proportion of all capital cities - while the highest proportion of 22.3 per cent use public transport.

The costs of Sydney's stretched transport system are draining billions from the public purse, the report said.