Bengaluru’s city centre was the second slowest to drive through in the world in 2022, with about half an hour of travel time by road to cover 10 km, according to the latest report by specialist in geolocation technologies, TomTom. In its research on Wednesday, TomTom stated that it took 29 minutes and 9 seconds to travel 10km in Bengaluru City centre last year.
About the Index
The 12th edition of its annual TomTom traffic index, details traffic trends across 389 cities 56 countries, throughout 2022. TomTom has assessed traffic in each city and the cost of driving in terms of time, money as well as the environmental impact for a driven mile.
The took into account the time, cost and CO2 emission per mile driven, and simulating how long it took to complete a 10 km (or 6-mile) trip within a city, for typical EV, petrol and diesel cars.
Numbers of hours lost
The study also found that Bengaluru ranks fourth in the number of hours lost, 129 hours, due to rush – hour traffic. Even with flexible working arrangements , option to work remotely, the time people lost in global cities to rush – hour traffic only increased over the past year, it said pointing out the Dublin lost the most amount of time, with as much as 140 hours, due to traffic.
The cost of traffic jams on the driver’s wallet is also quite significant, the research said. While London topped the list with the highest CO2 emissions per driven mile during rush hour, Bengaluru ranked fifth. The average annual CO2 emission based on a six – mile round trip in Bengaluru is 974 kg for petrol cars.
Other Indian cities
Pune was ranked 6th, while Delhi was at 34th position. Similarly, Mumbai was ranked 47 with more than 21 minutes travel 10 km.
What’s the problem with Bengaluru?
According to Professor Ashish Verma, a mobility expert from the Indian Institute of Science (IISC), Bengaluru has been consistently in the top five and the report is not something unexpected.
“Bengaluru is definitely among the worst congested cities because of misplaced infrastructure planning and transport interventions in the name of solving traffic problems without getting any results”.
Prof. MN Sreehari, who is the advisor tk the government of Karnataka for traffic, said that more than the time lost, the total loss in the revenue is much more horrifying in Bengaluru. The total travel cost, including delays in Bengaluru is about Rs. 19,750 crores annually.
“ Unfortunately, in Bengaluru, the roads are very narrow, while the problem continues, no politician or planner bothered. Even though the width is very less, if it is kept free, in a good condition it can improve the situation. In every house, the parking has been shifted to the roads. It is the total failure of the Bengaluru Corporation and the traffic police. They know very well as per the law, that road is meant for traffic and footpaths meant for pedestrians,” Sreehari said.