Bengaluru: Traffic Jams Hit Peak In The Tech Hub on Wednesdays and Thursdays

If you’ve ever been stuck in traffic in India’s Silicon Valley, you might have wondered which days are the worst.

Well, according to Bengaluru Traffic Police, it’s Wednesdays and Thursdays.

In a recent interview with Moneycontrol, Bengaluru’s Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), MN Anucheth, explained that this congestion is due to a mix of regular office work and business activities.

Anucheth highlighted that Wednesdays witness the highest congestion, with tech parks bustling with activity on this day.

To gather data, Bengaluru traffic police monitored 33 major tech parks along routes like Outer Ring Road and Sarjapur Road. The information collected includes hourly traffic movements provided by these tech parks.

Anucheth suggested a more balanced approach for companies, encouraging them to spread out employee office days across the week instead of focusing them mainly on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays.

Many tech professionals reportedly prefer working in the office from Tuesdays to Thursdays, creating a surge in traffic on Wednesdays and Thursdays as they enjoy extended weekends for personal trips. The limited reach of Bengaluru Metro to areas like Outer Ring Road, Hebbal, and Electronics City, coupled with reduced AC buses and absence of dedicated lanes from Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), adds to traffic congestion.

Weekday traffic patterns usually peak between 7:30 am to 11 am and 4:30 pm to 8:30 pm, while weekends see peaks from 11 am to 2 pm and 6:30 pm to 11 pm, likely due to leisure activities.

The Bengaluru Traffic Police are considering including US holidays in their traffic planning calendar. Anucheth noted a decrease in traffic during US Thanksgiving weekend, hinting at a possible correlation with personal activities during that time.

Furthermore, there has been an uptick in outgoing and incoming traffic from Bengaluru post-COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting increased travel to other destinations.

The traffic situation in Bengaluru’s tech hub underscores the need for better traffic management strategies to ease congestion and improve commuting experiences for residents and employees alike.