Research shows that Bengaluru is the world’s second slowest city to drive in.
Story so far: Bengalureans are painfully aware of the transformed significance of long drives in the city. Location technology firm Tom Tom recently confirmed that Bengaluru is India’s slowest city to drive in, with a travel time of around 29 minutes and 10 seconds to cover 10 kilometres in 2022. Globally, it ranks second, preceded by London, where it takes 36 minutes and 20 seconds to cover the same distance.
- The average person spent approximately 260 hours travelling 10 km last year, out of which 134 hours were just spent on congestion. To put things into perspective, people spent 5 days and 14 hours more than they should have while commuting.
- Increased travel time means higher energy consumption. Last year, the city emitted 1,009 kg of carbon dioxide. Out of this, traffic congestion for covering 10 km contributed 275 kgs.
Key takeaways: The new research makes a few observations about the city’s travel patterns. According to the data, Fridays and Saturdays have the highest occurrence of traffic congestion. One may want to avoid travelling on Friday evenings between 6 and 7 pm since it takes about 37 minutes and 20 seconds to cover 10 km.
- The research suggests that if people work from home on Fridays, Bengalureans could save 52 hours of traffic and 201 kg of carbon dioxide from being emitted.
- Alternatively, if people work from home on Fridays, Mondays, and Thursdays, the city can prune out 157 hours of traffic time and 603 kg of carbon dioxide.
Some good news: Second place is better than first, in this case. In 2019, the city secured the highest rank in traffic congestion globally. According to MA Saleem, Bengaluru Special Commissioner (traffic), in 2023, the average travel time has been reduced to 14 minutes in the city centre.
- The personnel has made special arrangements for slothful Fridays too. The traffic police plan on giving the green signal to outgoing traffic more, in comparison to incoming traffic.