Ask anyone who drives in Vancouver, Montreal, or Toronto to describe their driving experiences, and it becomes clear why some people want autonomous cars. Driving in crowded cities can be a maddening monotony of minuscule movements, a task better left to computers than our own brains.

But not all cities suck at dealing with traffic and the mobility of its citizens. Some are surprisingly good at getting people around. In Europe, kfzteile24, a large German online shop for car parts and accessories, examined 500 cities around the world, focusing on those with the highest number of registered vehicles. Their goal was to find the 100 best and worst cities to drive in. 

The study provides an interesting look at the five Canadian cities that made the list. It takes into account nine parameters, including: congestion levels based on data from TomTom, public transport options, the cost of parking, cost of gasoline and diesel, air pollution, average speed between the city centre and international airport, road fatalities, road quality, and road rage. Globally, Düsseldorf, Germany ranked No. 1, while Kolkata, India ranked worst overall and last at 100. 

In Canada, only Calgary presented well. Congestion caused by "temporary" construction work was not taken into account for the study, so Toronto and Montreal got a boost they don't currently deserve. Still, of the five Canadian cities, all fall within the top 50 in the study. Vancouver scored 48 out of 100, meaning it ranks as the worst place to drive in Canada among its biggest cities, but is in the middle of the pack when compared internationally. 

Here's a breakdown of how each Canadian city fared.

1. Calgary      Rank: 10/100 

Michael Muraz

Calgary's congestion was ranked among the lowest of Canadian cities, with a score of 20 out of 100, only one point behind the top three cities in the world. It also scored the cleanest air. Calgary might have done better overall were it not for its expensive downtown parking, where the Alberta city, ranking more expensive than London, England. Calgary also ranked somewhat poorly on the road rage scale, which was determined based on the results of a poll that asked more than 1,000 drivers to rate their perception of road rage, combined with the number of reported incidents in the past year. 

2. Montreal      Rank: 13/100

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Drivers in Montreal, long frustrated with the nightmare that is the Champlain Bridge, the war zone known as Highway 720, or the gridlock known as route 40 or 15, will be stunned to see it ranked as the second best major city in Canada to drive. Despite a terminal case of construction, Montreal's ranking in the study comes, in part, from its very good score at minimizing road rage, but also for its Métro subway and transit system that helps take a lot of cars off the road. 

3. Toronto     Rank: 14/100

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A decent subway and public transit system, comparatively low price of fuel (during the study period in August when gas was cheapest its been in years), modest downtown parking costs, and fairly quick speed to Toronto Pearson International Airport all helped the Big Smoke achieve its third best Canadian city rank, despite its problems on the 401, 400, DVP, and Gardiner Expressway, and numerous other main arteries. Road quality was slightly better than average at 31/100, according to the study, although the countless motorists who have replaced tires and suspension bits because of Toronto's roads will no doubt disagree. 

4. Ottawa      Rank: 22/100

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Anyone who regurlarly drives in Toronto and Ottawa will happily choose Ottawa traffic over Toronto's; but Canada's capital still lacks a subway system. Ottawa did rank better than Montreal and Toronto on the congestion score and parking costs, but had poorer quality roads than Toronto, and the subway system is still more than a year from seeing its first trains, resulting in its lower ranking.

5. Vancouver      Rank: 48/100

Wikimedia Commons

For regular commuters along Highway 1, Vancouver's last place rank in Canada will be no surprise. Worse than London, England, Vancouver's ratings come from its high congestion, partly due to a lack of major north-south or east-west arteries, but also the sheer volume. It's also hurt by the usually slow crawl to the airport, but helped by its pollution compared to other major cities. Vancouver ranked fourth overall behind Calgary and Ottawa as having the least air pollution. 

The complete rankings can be found here.

Taken from Derek McNaughton, Driving.ca, September 27, 2017

Auto makers change up their vehicle lineups regularly, removing slow-selling models and replacing those that no longer fit with their brand strategy. While this year's purge is, so far, lighter than last year's goodbye to two dozen vehicles, we already know of at least fourteen models that are biting the dust this year. 

With 2018 models starting to fill up showrooms, get ready to say goodbye to these vehicles. 

Dodge Viper FCA's raw 645-horsepower V-10 Viper was the answer to Chevrolet's Corvette. The auto maker actually announced last year the Viper would have a long goodbye, with no fewer than six editions (only three in Canada, according to Dodge's website).	Honda Accord Coupe The demise of the coupe version of all V-6 Accord models is the biggest news out of Honda. Accord sedans will now be offered only with 1.5-litre and 2-litre, turbo four-cylinder engines used in the smaller Civic.
Infiniti QX70 Nissan's luxury sales channel is dropping its mid-sized SUV/CUV for sale in the Americas in 2018. The five-passenger, all-wheel-drive QX70, priced between about $54,000 to $93,000 is not a huge seller, and Infiniti still has the less-expensive QX60.	Jeep Patriot With the advent of the all-new Compass, Jeep ended production of this four-cylinder compact SUV a few months ago. Remaining inventory is being cleared at a deeply discounted starting price of about $16,300.
Hyundai Accent 5 Door The Accent 5 Door actually makes the list not because it's leaving, but because it's staying -- in Canada, at least. While Hyundai is cutting the entry-level passenger car in the U.S., Canadians have always preferred small hatchbacks more than our neighbours.	Lexus CT 200h Lexus is dropping this compact hybrid hatchback from the Canadian and U.S. markets. While it's not clear why Lexus is getting rid of the CT 200h here, the cousin to the Toyota Prius will still be available elsewhere.
Mazda5 Another minivan bites the dust. Sales of the six-passenger Mazda5, which is called a multiactivity vehicle, have tailed off since peaking in 2008, with only about 1,600 sold last year. The vehicle has been phased out of all but its Japanese home market.	Mercedes-Benz CLS The German luxury auto maker is putting its muscular four-door coupe on hiatus for 2018 to await the launch of a new generation in 2019. The CLS is a niche offering that never sold big, so missing a year is no big deal.
Mitsubishi Lancer The Lancer is likely another victim of the consumer rush to SUV and CUV models. Mitsubishi says no replacement is planned -- instead, they're adding to their SUV lineup -- but it has inventory to last well into the first quarter of 2018.	Mitsubishi i-MiEV Mitsubishi is also ending its foray into the battery-powered EV market, at least for now. The subcompact i-MiEV sedan was an EV trailblazer, but the Nissan Leaf captured the lion's share of customers for the urban runabout.
Smart fortwo coupe/cabrio The tiny, two-seat city runabout built in France will no longer be offered with the three-cylinder, 89-hp gas engine. The company announced it instead would focus on the battery-electric version for the North American market.	Tesla Model S 60 The luxury electric-car maker is dropping the "entry-level" 60 kilowatt/hour version of its first product, presumably to make room for the new Model 3 sedan. The Model S will still be available with the 75 kW/h or 100kW/h power packs.
Volkswagen Touareg The five-passenger Touareg is VW's largest SUV, smack in the middle of the highly competitive mid-size segment. Sales may have been hurt by the emissions-cheating scandal, but VW says it's focusing on the Atlas and Tiguan crossovers.	Volkswagen CC VW's range-topping sedan has a coupe-like silhouette with a choice of four- and six-cylinder engines. VW says there is no word yet on a replacement, but outside of Canada, it will be succeeded by the new Areton, which has hatchback utility.

Taken from Steve Mertl, the Globe & Mail, September 25, 2017 | Images via manufacturers