Slow traffic: Bengaluru cops counter TomTom Traffic Index survey numbers

Bengaluru’s ranking as the second most congested city in the world in the latest TomTom Traffic Index has once again drawn attention to the city’s traffic woes.

However, an analysis of real-time data available on the ASTraM app by the Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) has revealed that the travel time is close to 10% faster than what was reported in the TomTom index.

According to BTP, in 2025, commuters spent an average of 34.5 minutes to travel 10 km during peak hours as against the TomTom index report, which said the average travel time during peak hours was 38 minutes.

The average rush hour speed was determined to be 18.2 kmph according to BTP, as against 15.8 kmph recorded by the TomTom index.

The officials opined that the TomTom index may not indicate the ground reality completely.

“The index uses the data available on its app and this might make the sample size smaller. In contrast, ASTraM uses data from Google maps, MapmyIndia, and TomTom to ascertain the traffic flow. Hence, the ASTraM data reflects ground reality,” Karthik Reddy, Joint Commissioner of Traffic, Bengaluru City, told DH.

The BTP also claimed that the evening peak variability fell from 17% in 2024 to 11% in 2025.

“We have improved the inter-departmental coordination and as a result, any breakdown in vehicles, flooding, or a tree fall is cleared faster,” Reddy said.

While the travel time has increased year-on-year, BTP officials said that interventions by various departments had helped restrict the rise.

Both the analysis by BTP and the TomTom Index showed that the traffic congestion had come down significantly after July 2025, owing to these interventions.

Senior government officials said that the intervention by Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had pushed the officials from various departments to take necessary action to improve roads and in turn, reduce congestion.

“There were many road works that also obstructed the traffic flow. Apart from that, the potholes and poor road conditions also led to traffic snarls. However, after the CM and DCM intervened, the situation has improved,” a senior official said. Better synchronisation of signals on major corridors during the peak hours, metro expansion, improvement of road quality, faster clearance in case of breakdown of vehicles, continuous monitoring, and predictive analytics have helped restrict travel time, the officials said.

Senior officials said that they were not denying congestion in the city, but there was a need to look at it from an overall perspective.

While global indices indicate the presence of congestion, local, ground-validated data show that the city has prevented a demand-driven collapse, the officials added.

Traffic experts opined that there is a need to implement more measures on ground rather than talking about statistics.

“The measurement techniques may be different and hence the travel time may vary. But rather than disputing about the travel time, it is important to focus on implementing measures. The traffic police should ensure haphazard roadside parking is stopped since this is one of the major reasons for traffic build up. Simple measures can go a long way in improving the situation in ground,” said Prof M N Sreehari, traffic expert.