Bengaluru's ranking as India’s most traffic-clogged city and the world’s second-most congested should ring alarm bells for administrators and citizens alike. The latest TomTom Traffic Index places India as the fifth-most congested country globally, estimating that in 2025 commuters in the IT City spent 74 percent more time travelling than they would have under free-flowing conditions. Bengaluru was followed by Pune (71 percent), Mumbai (63 percent), Delhi (60 percent) and Kolkata (59 percent). For Bengalureans, this translates into the equivalent of an entire week lost annually in peak-hour traffic. The cumulative impact—thousands of productive work hours wasted every year—has led tech leaders to flag long commutes as a drag on efficiency and rising costs, with some even considering relocation or a continued reliance on work-from-home models.
The causes of the city’s daily gridlock are well known. Limited road infrastructure, cratered surfaces, explosive vehicular growth, motorists’ indiscipline and inadequate, often expensive public transport have combined to paralyse mobility. The failure is evident at multiple levels—from the inability to plan for a fast-growing metropolis and complete infrastructure projects on time, to delays in suburban rail systems and citizens’ overwhelming dependence on personal vehicles. The concentration of IT jobs in far-flung hubs such as Whitefield and Electronic City further lengthens commutes and worsens congestion. When public transport is unreliable or unviable, commuters are inevitably pushed towards private vehicles and app-based cabs.
To counter criticism, Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar has unveiled a 25-year plan to decongest the state’s major cities, including proposals for ring roads and wider carriageways. Bengaluru alone has been allocated ₹2.5 lakh crore for buffer roads and elevated corridors. While the investment is substantial, infrastructure expansion by itself will not unclog the city.
Global cities such as London, New York and Rome have taken politically difficult decisions, including imposing congestion charges in designated zones. Such measures appear distant for Bengaluru, which still lacks a comprehensive legal framework even for parking fees. Yet, immediate solutions are within reach: towing away illegally parked vehicles, cracking down on autorickshaws obstructing arterial roads, enforcing discipline through stiff fines, and prioritising efficient public transport and walkable pavements. Large projects—the tunnel road, metro expansion and suburban rail—are moving ahead, but far too slowly for a city already at a breaking point. What Bengaluru needs is urgency, enforcement and imagination. The government must act decisively to break the city’s traffic paralysis.