bengaluru covid19 seems to have managed to do what the citys administration and urban planners have miserably failed at reduce traffic congestion in a city where infrastructure projects like namma metro are plagued with severe delays work from home and virus scare have turned into brief agents of change cutting down vehicle numbers and decongesting roadstomtom tom2 the geolocation technology specialist on wednesday released the 11th edition of its annual tomtom traffic index a report detailing traffic trends seen in 404 cities in 58 countries throughout 2021bengaluru slipped to the 10th position from last years sixth and saw a 32 average decrease in congestion compared to the precovid period in 2019 with 49 and 37 average dip during morning and evening rush hours respectively the remarkable shift happened within two years when it ranked as the most congested city globally in 2019 said a statementdespite a drop in congestion levels four cities from india featured in the tomtom traffic indexs global top25 list mumbai 5 bengaluru 10 and new delhi 11 and pune 212021 was the year where changes in our working habits were solidified the home office is becoming a standard for many companies teleconferences have replaced physical meetings and flexible work hours allow many commuters to avoid and offset their rush hours as a consequence peak hours have shifted in almost 40 of the cities worldwide it addedbengalurus congestion levels came down to 48 in 2021 from 71 in 2019 which means a 32 decrease the peak traffic congestion also reduced by 44 in 2021 the city saw its worst traffic day on october 9 2021 when heavy rain caused certain waterlogged pockets resulting in widespread logjams and high congestion mumbai new delhi and pune saw an average decrease in congestion levels by 18 14 and 29 respectively india fared better than the global average of 10 drop in congestion it saidmeanwhile the number of private vehicles has increased because people found them an easier means to maintain social distance at the same time both the civic body and masses have encouraged the adoption of evs in the city the release notedsachin tyagi strategic automotive business development manager tomtom said the realtime traffic information we collect to understand congestion patterns indicates that mobility options are rapidly changing as a part of the adaptable lifestyles resulting from the pandemic while the congestion levels are lower as compared to precovid times it is mostly because of demand for ecommerce and changes in work patterns in indian citiesaccording to him the policymakers need to be cognisant of the positive change and implement holistic norms aimed at bettering road infrastructure this will further take down congestion levels and promote alternative sustainable transport modes which could improve emission levels too adoption of better technology that utilises realtime data bold investments and fearless policy decisions are the key to transformation he added