Men tend to be less stressed than women about transportation options in urban settings, according to a new study.

Men felt no anxiety about having an accident or the safety of others, even if they had been involved in a crash or injured before, said Sarah Hinde of the Australian National University, who conducted the study.

Hinde’s study examined male and female attitudes towards transport options including cars, buses, trains, trams, bicycles and walking.

"Women…reported feeling anxious about their own and other people’s safety using all forms of transport, and many experience travel as a source of conflict, stress or danger," said Hinde.

"Although these women travel every day, many felt quite intimidated."

Hinde said that current transport modes are creating clear gender inequalities, especially as policymakers tend to focus on the journey to work when planning urban transport.

She said women still perform the bulk of household tasks, which means they travel between many destinations. She argued that they are being overlooked when it comes to transport planning.

Her study involved a series of interviews in two inner-Melbourne suburbs, one of which could be classified as more car reliant than the other, due to high rates of car ownership and use.

In the less car-reliant suburb, up to two-thirds of people used active transport to get to work. In the more car-reliant suburb, which is more typical of urban Australia, four in every five commuters used a car to get to work.