Bengaluru Is The World’s 2nd Most Congested City; Commuters Lose Over 7 Days A Year To Traffic!

Anyone who has lived in Bengaluru long enough knows this feeling well: leaving home with a generous buffer and still arriving late. In 2025, that reality finally caught up with global data. According to the TomTom Traffic Index 2025, Bengaluru has been ranked the second-most congested city in the world, making it the most traffic-choked city in India.

Bengaluru Ranked Second Most Congested City In The World In 2025

According to Hindustan Times, only Mexico City ranked higher, while Bengaluru edged past cities like Dublin. The ranking is based on anonymous travel data covering 3.65 trillion kilometres of driving globally, making it one of the most comprehensive traffic studies in the world.

The headline number is stark. Bengaluru recorded an average congestion level of 74.4 per cent in 2025, an increase of 1.7 percentage points compared to 2024. What that looks like on the road is painfully familiar. Covering 10 kilometres inside the city now takes an average of 36 minutes and 9 seconds, more than two minutes slower than last year. In 15 minutes, a commuter barely manages 4.2 km, down from 4.4 km in 2024.

Rush hour tells a harsher story. During the morning peak, a 10 km commute stretches to 41 minutes and 6 seconds, with congestion touching 94.2 per cent and speeds dropping to 14.6 km/h. Evenings are worse, as the same distance takes 45 minutes and 27 seconds, congestion shoots up to 115.2 per cent, and average speeds fall to 13.2 km/h.

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Bengaluru Commuters Lose Over Seven Days A Year Stuck In Traffic

Over a year, these delays add up. In 2025, Bengaluru commuters lost 168 hours to traffic, that’s seven full days and 40 minutes spent stationary or crawling forward. Compared to 2024, that’s an additional 12 hours and 46 minutes gone.

India’s traffic crisis, however, isn’t limited to one city. Pune ranked fifth globally, with an average congestion level of 71.1 per cent, up sharply by 5.4 percentage points from last year. A 10 km trip in Pune now takes 33 minutes and 20 seconds, while rush-hour travel stretches beyond 40 minutes in the evening. Pune commuters lost 152 hours to traffic in 2025, that is six days and eight hours of their year, as stated by Hindustan Times. 

Here is a list of top 10 most-congested cities in the world according to Tom Tom Traffic Index: 

1. Mexico City, Mexico
   
2. Bengaluru, India
   
3. Dublin, Ireland
   
4. Łódź, Poland
   
5. Pune, India
   
6. Lublin, Poland
   
7. Bogotá, Colombia
   
8. Arequipa, Peru
   
9. Lima, Peru
   
10. Bangkok, Thailand 

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These rankings don’t just measure slow roads. They underline a deeper issue facing India’s fastest-growing cities; infrastructure is struggling to keep pace with rising populations, vehicle ownership, and daily mobility demands. 

Cover Image Courtesy: chachastephane/canvapro (representative image)