Bengaluru Congestion World's 2nd Worst, People Lose 7 Days A Year To Traffic

India's tech capital Bengaluru, which is already infamous for its traffic, has now emerged as one of the world's most congested cities, ranking second globally in the latest TomTom Traffic Index (city) with an average congestion level of 74.4 per cent, up 1.7 percentage points compared to 2024. 

The index, which draws on anonymous trip data covering 3.65 trillion km of driving worldwide, places Bengaluru just behind Mexico City and ahead of Dublin in the global top three.

For Bengaluru commuters, the report's headline statistic is brutally simple: a 10 km drive took 36 minutes 9 seconds on average in 2025, which is 2 minutes 4 seconds longer than in 2024. 

Morning rush hour data

10 km takes 41 min 6 s, with 94.2 per cent average congestion and 14.6 km/h average speed.

Evening rush hour: 10 km takes 45 min 27 s, with 115.2 per cent congestion and 13.2 km/h average speed.

Bengalureans lost 168 hours in rush hour traffic. 

The index estimates Bengaluru drivers lose 168 hours in 2025 due to traffic during rush hours, equal to 7 days and 40 minutes, which is 12 hours 46 minutes more than in 2024.

Even short trips are getting squeezed. In 15 minutes, the average distance covered in Bengaluru is 4.2 km, which is 0.2 km less than the previous year, highlighting how congestion is eating into everyday mobility.

The worst day: May 17

TomTom flags Saturday, May 17, 2025 as Bengaluru's worst day to travel, when the average congestion level hit 101 per cent. 

World's top five: 

Bengaluru's No. 2 ranking places it among a set of global congestion hotspots.

The top five cities in the list are:

Mexico City, Mexico
Bengaluru, India
Dublin, Ireland
Lodz, Poland
Pune, India

India's traffic map: multiple cities crowd the global top 35

The TomTom ranking shows congestion is not limited to Bengaluru, with several Indian cities appearing across the list:

2 Bengaluru - 74.4 per cent congestion
5 Pune - 71.1 per cent
18 Mumbai - 63.2 per cent
23 New Delhi - 60.2 per cent
29 Kolkata - 58.9 per cent
30 Jaipur - 58.7 per cent
32 Chennai - 58.6 per cent

The presence of seven Indian cities in the top 35 underscores the scale of urban mobility stress, even as cities differ in road design, public transport options, and commuting patterns.

TomTom is a Netherlands-based location technology company best known for its digital maps, navigation software and real-time traffic services. 

TomTom publishes the annual Traffic Index to compare congestion levels and travel times across cities worldwide.