'Once 20 mins, now 3.5 hours': Bengaluru biker highlights grim traffic reality of Vidyaranyapura-Whitefield commute

For years, Bengaluru residents have complained about long commutes, traffic congestion and never-ending infrastructure work across the city. In a recent Reddit post, a commuter travelling between Vidyaranyapura and Whitefield has once again highlighted how drastically travel duration has changed.

The commuter, who mentioned reaching Whitefield in 20-25 minutes during 2005-06, noted that the commute time has now increased to hours together.

 "I remembered my first ride to Whitefield on the Ring Road around 2005–2006 with my friend on a CBZ. Back then, even though it was the Ring Road, there were still a good number of trees along the stretch. I still remember reaching TESCO for an interview in just 20-25 minutes," the post read.

They then shared about ditching the car and riding a bike to navigate faster on the route. "Recently I switched from commuting by car to riding a bike to office — from Vidyaranyapura to Whitefield. When I used to drive, the total commute time to and fro on a good day itself was close to 3.5 hours."

The reason behind the commuting hassle? The Redditor called it on the construction work on the route.

"In the last 20 years, there has probably not been a single day when there was no work happening on the Ring Road towards Whitefield. I remember the Ring Road before the flyovers and underpasses-Veranna Paiya, Nagawara, Hennur... then the Nagawara-Veranna Palya connection, Manyata flyover, ITPL metro work, road fixing after metro construction, white topping of the Ring Road, Hebbal flyover modifications, and now finally the Ring Road metro work. At no point did construction really stop," they wrote.