Credit: DH Photo
Bengaluru: Bengaluru remained the most congested city in India in 2023 even as it dropped to sixth place globally, Dutch geolocation technology firm TomTom found in its latest traffic index. In 2022, Bengaluru was the second-most congested city globally, only behind London.
In its 13th traffic index, TomTom found that the average time it took to travel 10 kilometres in Bengaluru’s city centre improved by a minute: in 2022, it took a commuter 29 minutes and 10 seconds, while in 2023, it was 28 minutes and 10 seconds.
MN Anucheth, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), said, that the improvement in travel time, even by a minute, despite the addition of vehicles was great.
“We added about 10 lakh vehicles but still the travel time improved,” Anucheth told DH. “If you look at the top ten, we are the only one who reduced the travel time.”
The report also found that the congestion level — which is the average additional time (in %) lost to traffic in 2023, compared to driving in free flow conditions — was at 63%. TomTom also found that a commuter in 2023 spent 132 hours — 5 days and 12 hours — driving in rush hour and the average speed was 18 kmph.
The Dutch firm also noted that a commuter for a 10-kilometre trip in the city centre spent an additional 15 minutes during the morning rush hour and an extra 19 minutes during the rush hour in the evening.
As per TomTom, the worst day to travel in 2023 was September 27, a Wednesday. The report noted that day, it took a commuter 32 minutes and 50 seconds to drive 10 km on average. The best time to avoid was on Fridays between 6 pm - 7 pm when driving 10 kilometres would take an average of 36 minutes and 20 seconds.
September 27 was notorious for the gridlock where many parts of Bengaluru, especially the Outer Ring Road (ORR), ground to a halt. DH reported then that scores of commuters took nearly five hours or more to cover a distance of just 20 km. Among other reasons, a long weekend ahead was said to be a cause for the gridlock.
Global picture
Globally, London (United Kingdom) topped the charts as the most congested city, followed by Dublin (Ireland), Toronto (Canada), Milan (Italy), Lima (Peru) and Bengaluru (India).