Bengaluru Remains Most Congested City In India In 2024, Kolkata Stands Out As Slowest: TomTom Report

Globally, Bengaluru ranked 64th, while Mumbai scored a rank of 110th in the congestion index. The congestion level in the two cities stood at 38 per cent and 35 per cent respectively.

Meanwhile, in terms of average travel time per 10 km, Kolkata emerged as the slowest in India and clocked a time of 34 minutes and 33 seconds. 

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Bengaluru emerged as the most congested city in India in 2024, the traffic index released by TomTom said. The study by the Dutch location technology specialist found that Bengaluru ranked highest in the country in terms of congestion, followed by Mumbai.

Globally, Bengaluru ranked 64th, while Mumbai scored a rank of 110th in the congestion index. The congestion level in the two cities stood at 38 per cent and 35 per cent respectively. The most congested city in the world was Mexico City, Mexico, wihch clocked a congestion level of 52 per cent.

Slowest Cities In India

Meanwhile, in terms of average travel time per 10 km, Kolkata emerged as the slowest in India and clocked a time of 34 minutes and 33 seconds. 

Drivers in Bengaluru required an average travel time of 34 minutes and 10 seconds to cover a distance of 10 km in 2024, the study found. In 2024, the average speed in Kolkata touched 17.4 kmph, while Bengaluru saw a slightly higher average speed of 17.6 kmph during the same period.

Global Rankings

On a global scale, three Indian cities found place in the top five for the lowest average speeds. These included Kolkata, Bengaluru, and Pune, which ranked second, third, and fourth on the list across the world respectively. 

The top place on the slowest travel speed list was secured by Barranquilla in Colombia, which clocked an average speed of 10.3 mph and an average travel time of 36 minutes and 6 seconds to finish a 10 km journey. The average travel speed of Kolkata touched 34 minutes and 33 seconds, while drivers in Bengaluru needed 34 minutes and 10 seconds to complete the distance.

Other slower cities in the country were Ahmedabad and Ernakulam which clocked 29 minutes average travel time each, while Jaipur recorded a travel time of 28 minutes for the same distance.

The study highlighted a larger trend of increasing travel times, with 76 per cent of the 500 cities analysed clocking a fall in the avergae speeds in comparison to 2023.

Ralf-Peter Schäfer, Vice President of Traffic, TomTom, explained, “Outdated infrastructure, inefficient road planning, and the growing demands of urbanisation have increased traffic congestion.”