Bengaluru’s traffic worst in the world, 3 other Indian cities in top 10 list

Representational image (Courtesy: PTI photo)

Bengaluru has officially earned the dubious distinction of being the world’s most traffic congested city. India’s startup hub fared the worst in traffic conditions among 415 cities across 57 countries, as per a report prepared by TomTom, the Netherlands-based global provider of navigation, traffic and map products. Talking about Bengaluru being ranked as the world’s most traffic congested city, TomTom said that drivers in Karnataka’s capital city expected to spend an average of 71% extra time stuck in traffic. While driving through Bengaluru during peak hours in the year 2019, commuters spent an additional 243 hours in traffic, the report said.

Statistically, during this time these Bengaluru drivers could have watched 139 football games, or seen 215 episodes of Game of Thrones, or planted 244 trees. During this period, Fridays threw up the worst traffic congestion records, with the time period between 7 PM and 9 PM experiencing worst rush hour figures in Bengaluru.

Other Indian cities on the top 10 list of cities with most traffic congestion were Mumbai (4th), Pune (5th) and New Delhi (8th). In comparison to Bengaluru’s figures of 71% congestion level, Mumbai’s levels stood at 65%, Pune was at 59%, while New Delhi’s traffic congestion levels stood at 56%.

As compared to 2018, of the 416 cities included in the TomTom traffic index report, 239 cities showed higher levels of traffic congestion in 2019, with only 63 registering a measurable decline in traffic congestion.

With similar traffic congestion figures, Manila in the Philippines came a close second after Bengaluru, followed by Bogota in Colombia.

The report said that a Bengaluru commuter travelling after 8 PM on Friday could save at least 5 hours per year (for a 30-minute commute). Ongoing construction work and infrastructure development have often been blamed to play a major part in Bengaluru’s abysmal traffic conditions.