BENGALURU, India: Software engineer Shikher Chhawchharia travels just 15km to work, but the journey takes him more than an hour – time he feels could be better spent innovating than sitting in traffic.

“My company reimburses my cab fare. I always take a cab and kind of get some of my work done in the cab,” said Chhawchharia, who now works from home two days a week.

“But that’s not feasible for everyone and I wouldn’t have been able to get about an hour’s worth of work during my commute.”

It is a familiar struggle for Bengaluru’s one million tech professionals powering Asia-Pacific’s largest technology hub.

Commuters say that while the city may be India’s tech capital, it feels more like the world’s traffic capital during rush hour.

A 2023 study estimated the economic cost of the congestion at nearly US$2 billion a year.

POWERING INDIA’S DIGITAL REVOLUTION

Bengaluru is home to some of the world’s biggest names in technology and innovation.

Global companies such as Google and Visa have flocked to the city for its deep talent pool, but that success has created fresh challenges.

In recent years, rapid growth has stretched Bengaluru into an urban sprawl that has outgrown its infrastructure.

Each morning, traffic in the city – the capital of India’s southern Karnataka state – slows to a crawl, with millions of commuters stuck in jams even when there are no roadblocks or accidents in sight.

According to Dutch navigation and digital mapping firm TomTom’s traffic index last year, Bengaluru has the third slowest traffic in the world – drivers spend an average of 34 minutes 10 seconds to cover just 10km.

Only its fellow Indian city of Kolkata and Colombia’s port city of Barranquilla are slower, with drivers taking 34 minutes 33 seconds and 36 minutes 6 seconds respectively to travel the same distance.

In comparison, Singapore ranks 206th out of 501 cities evaluated, with drivers taking an average of 20 minutes and 16 seconds to travel 10km, the index found.

Traffic slows to a crawl in India’s tech capital Bengaluru during rush hour.

PROPOSED TUNNEL ROAD PROJECT

As India’s Silicon Valley battles gridlock, it is turning to new ideas.

These include deploying more than 300 artificial intelligence-enabled cameras to better manage traffic and launching apps to help commuters plan their journeys on the public transport system.

A proposed tunnel road also aims to ease Bengaluru’s traffic woes by creating an underground route linking key parts of the city.

The project promises to decongest major roads and offer commuters a faster way through the city’s crowded routes.

Yet, debates are intensifying over whether mass transit – and not personal vehicles – holds the key to easing the city’s notorious traffic.

Last Tuesday (Oct 28), Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar stressed that mobility decisions cannot ignore social realities.

He was responding to several suggestions made by Bengaluru South Member of Parliament Tejasvi Surya to ease congestion, including prioritising Metro expansion over the tunnel road project.

“People prefer to travel in their own vehicles with their families. Can we prevent them from using their cars?” he said.

“If needed, MPs can appeal to their constituents to leave their cars at home and use public transport. Let us see how many actually follow that.”