Contextual Background
- Trigger
- TomTom Traffic Index 2025 ranked Bengaluru as the 2nd most congested city globally and Pune as 5th.
- Context
- Raises concerns amid State narratives projecting Bengaluru as a “future-ready/global tech city”.
Relevance
- GS Paper I
- Urbanisation and migration
- GS Paper II
- Urban governance
- Municipal capacity
- GS Paper III
- Infrastructure
- Sustainable transport
- Productivity losses
Conceptual & Static Foundation
Core Concept – Urban Traffic Congestion
- Traffic Congestion
- A condition where travel demand exceeds road network capacity, leading to:
- Reduced speeds
- Longer travel times
- Higher fuel consumption and emissions.
- A condition where travel demand exceeds road network capacity, leading to:
- Measurement (TomTom Methodology)
- Average speeds during peak hours
- Time lost due to congestion
- Extra travel time compared to free-flow conditions.
Key Findings (2025 Index Highlights)
- Bengaluru
- Average peak-hour speed: ~13.9 kmph.
- Congestion level: ~74.4% (year-on-year increase).
- Time to travel 10 km: ~36 minutes.
- Annual time lost during rush hours: ~168 hours.
- Pune
- Ranked 5th globally for congestion.
- Comparative
- Mumbai ranked 18th; performs better on average speed than Bengaluru.
Governance & Administrative Dimensions
- Urban Planning Deficits
- Road-centric expansion without proportional public transport growth.
- Fragmented land-use and transport planning.
- Institutional Issues
- Weak coordination among:
- Municipal corporations
- Traffic police
- Urban development authorities.
- Weak coordination among:
- Policy Mismatch
- Global branding vs ground-level service delivery.
Data & Evidence
- Bengaluru: 2nd most congested city globally (2025).
- Pune: 5th globally.
- Average peak speed in Bengaluru: ~13.9 kmph.
- Annual time lost in congestion (Bengaluru): ~168 hours.
- Congestion level increased year-on-year.
Way Forward
- Public Transport First
- Accelerate metro, suburban rail, and bus rapid transit.
- Integrated Urban Planning
- Transit-oriented development (TOD).
- Demand Management
- Congestion pricing in core zones.
- Staggered office timings, remote work incentives.
- Technology
- Intelligent traffic management systems (AI-enabled signals).
- Institutional Reform
- Unified metropolitan transport authorities.
- Sustainability
- Promote non-motorised transport (walking, cycling).
Prelims Pointers
- TomTom Traffic Index is a global, not Indian, report.
- Congestion ranking ≠ population size ranking.
- High GDP cities can still have poor mobility outcomes.
- Average speed during peak hours is a key congestion metric.
- Flyovers alone do not solve congestion structurally.
