End of hybrid work in October could increase traffic jams by 15% on Bengaluru's ORR

Bengaluru: Starting October, traffic on the outer ring road (ORR) is likely to increase by at least 10 to 15%, as multiple private companies are pulling back work-from-home (WFH) and other hybrid working options. 

The ORR, which has recently been in the spotlight for its worsening traffic woes, is home to 26 major tech parks which employ over eight lakh professionals. So far, companies have adopted the hybrid working model, where employees are required to work from the office for anywhere between one and three days a week. As a result, Wednesdays and Thursdays see the highest traffic congestion.  

Speaking about the plans to tackle the increasing traffic on ORR, M A Saleem, Director General and Inspector General of Police and also an expert of traffic management, told DH, "If the workforce is back at the offices on ORR, then we are expecting a 10 to 15% increase in vehicular movement. But we are hopeful that rains will stop by mid-October and pothole work on the ORR stretch will also be done by then. We urge companies on the stretch to encourage employees to opt for public transport." 

Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Kartik Reddy, said, "Our advice to companies is to opt for staggered timings. Some companies can opt for early work hours to avoid ending the workday during peak hours."

BMTC is kicking off an initiative to improve public transport adoption along the tech corridor.

"To encourage more people to use buses, we will now take buses into tech parks. Earlier, they would stop near the entrance. We have already deployed two feeder buses for the Wipro campus and plan to launch seven more," BMTC managing director Ramachandran R told DH.  

Returning to office 

While some companies officially asked their employees to return to the office in September, many more will follow suit in October in a bid to improve productivity. 

While a few companies have sent out official notifications to employees, talks about full-time work from the office have been making the rounds for the past few weeks.

"We are being asked to resume work in the office every day to improve our performance. We tried to talk higher-ups out of the decision, but they are set on it. We have been mandated to work full-time from the office from next month," said Sneha S T, an IT professional at a Bellandur-based firm, who spends about four hours every day on her daily commute.

At another tech firm, 'work from office' days have been increased from two to three days a week.  

Acknowledging the reluctance of employees to return to office, Manas Das, president, Outer Ring Road Companies Association (ORRCA), said, "An increasing number of companies are asking employees to return to office. While we don't have a say in employers asking their employees to return to the office, we are working on factors that are causing reluctance among employees to make the change. Unless traffic congestion and poor infrastructure are addressed, traffic will definitely get worse."

Krishna Kumar Gowda, general secretary of Greater Bengaluru IT Companies & Industries Association (GBITCIA), said, "Employees are making an effort to spend more time in office even without the company asking them to because of growth of AI and the recent H1B visa news. There is a renewed competitive spirit among employees, and this trend is set to grow," he added.