{"id":65291,"date":"2026-01-28T18:19:55","date_gmt":"2026-01-28T12:49:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/?p=65291"},"modified":"2026-01-29T13:27:39","modified_gmt":"2026-01-29T07:57:39","slug":"congestion-index","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/28-01-2026\/congestion-index","title":{"rendered":"Congestion Index"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>Syllabus: GS2\/Governance<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Context<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>According to the latest <strong>2025 TomTom Traffic Index<\/strong>, ranked <strong>India as the fifth most <\/strong>traffic-congested country globally and <strong>second in Asia.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>About<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The index evaluates <strong>cities worldwide based on average travel time, congestion levels and vehicle speeds.&nbsp;<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>The index is widely <strong>used to track changes in urban mobility<\/strong> and compare congestion trends across regions and countries.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Bengaluru<\/strong> emerged as<strong> India\u2019s most traffic-congested city<\/strong>, recording an average congestion level of 74.4%\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Bengaluru and Kolkata<\/strong> were both listed<strong> among the world\u2019s five slowest cities.<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Of the top 10 cities with the highest congestion in Asia, six were from India: <\/strong>Bengaluru (1), Pune (2), Mumbai (6), New Delhi (7), Kolkata (9), and Jaipur (10).&nbsp;<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Causes of Traffic Congestion in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Rapid urbanisation and population growth <\/strong>is increasing pressure on limited road space.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Rising private vehicle ownership <\/strong>due to higher incomes and inadequate public transport is exceeding the road capacity growth.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Inadequate and poorly planned road infrastructure,<\/strong> including narrow roads and missing bypasses.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Mixed traffic conditions<\/strong> with vehicles of different speeds and sizes sharing the same road. Also, an absence of lane discipline slows down traffic flow.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Poor traffic management<\/strong> and weak enforcement of traffic rules.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Encroachments and on-street parking<\/strong> reduce effective road width.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Implications&nbsp;<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Economic losses<\/strong> due to fuel wastage, delayed logistics, and reduced productivity.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Increased air and noise pollution<\/strong> leading to the worsening urban health outcomes.\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Higher carbon emissions, undermining climate and sustainability goals.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Long waiting hours lead to higher stress levels and road rage, affecting <strong>mental health and social well-being.<\/strong><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Congested roads lead to<strong> delay in emergency services<\/strong> (ambulances, fire services), risking lives.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Increased road accidents<\/strong> due to chaotic traffic and rule violations.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Reduced quality of urban life,<\/strong> lowering livability and ease of doing business.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><strong>Initiatives to Combat Traffic Congestion in India<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Strengthening public transport<\/strong> through metro rail, Bus Rapid Transit System (BRTS), suburban rail and electric buses.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Promotion of intelligent traffic management systems<\/strong> (ITMS) using AI, sensors and adaptive signals.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Transit-Oriented Development (TOD)<\/strong> to integrate land use with mass transit corridors.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Urban road infrastructure<\/strong> upgrades, including flyovers, ring roads and dedicated lanes.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Parking management reforms,<\/strong> such as pricing, multi-level parking and no-parking zones.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Encouraging non-motorised transport<\/strong> by developing footpaths and cycle tracks.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Policy and behavioural initiatives,<\/strong> including congestion pricing, staggered office timings and stricter enforcement.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Source: <\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.downtoearth.org.in\/urbanisation\/bengaluru-kolkata-among-worlds-slowest-cities-as-india-ranks-high-on-congestion-index\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>DTE<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p><strong> Context <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> According to the latest 2025 TomTom Traffic Index, ranked India as the fifth most traffic-congested country globally and second in Asia. <\/li>\n<p><\/p>\n<p><strong> About <\/strong><\/p>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> The index evaluates cities worldwide based on average travel time, congestion levels and vehicle speeds.\u00a0 <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> The index is widely used to track changes in urban mobility and compare congestion trends across regions and countries. <\/li>\n<li class=\"ms-5\"> Bengaluru emerged as India\u2019s most traffic-congested city, recording an average congestion level of 74.4% <\/li>\n<p><a href=\" https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/current-affairs\/28-01-2026\/congestion-index \" class=\"btn btn-primary btn-sm float-end\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-65291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-current-affairs"],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65291"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65347,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65291\/revisions\/65347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nextias.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}