00:00I've been in five years in Bangalore, I've been in six years in traffic.
00:03Bangaluru, a city where a 20-minute commute can quietly turn into a 90-minute meditation on life choices.
00:09In the city, the car was running in Bangalore, now is the landmark in Bangalore.
00:15In 2026, according to the most recent TomTom traffic index data, it's become the second most congested city in the world.
00:21But this video is more about what Bangaluru needs to learn from other global cities that solved their traffic problem.
00:27Let me explain.
00:30Take a look at New York. In January 2025, New York City began charging vehicles to enter its busiest streets.
00:35The move was met with huge backlash, detractors warned of chaos, angry commuters, traffic spilling into other neighborhoods and a huge cost to businesses.
00:44According to this New York Times report, what happened instead was fewer cars, faster travel and a rise in the use of public transport.
00:5127 million fewer cars going into that zone over the last year. 27 million!
00:58What New York did was not groundbreaking, it has been done before, as far back as 1975 in Singapore.
01:03London, Stockholm, Milan, Rome, Gothenburg, all of them have adopted congestion charges in their busiest business districts.
01:09Same result, fewer cars, cleaner air, faster movement. These cities simply put a price on time lost.
01:16Before congestion pricing, about 117 hours were lost, commuting for New Yorkers, just stuck in traffic, five solid days out of your life.
01:25So, if Bengaluru were to apply a New York style congestion price, a charge to enter the busiest traffic districts during peak hours that is, here's what that would look like.
01:33Let's take Emory Road, Brigade Road, Residency Road as an example, which apparently sees roughly 6-7 lakh vehicles a day.
01:39Now, Bengaluru's vehicle speed during peak hours is an abysmal 13.2 km per hour.
01:44Even if there is a conserving 8% reduction in vehicle traffic, speed could increase by up to 20%.
01:50There would be a similar increase in public transport use and pollution could reduce up to 12%.
01:55And then there is the revenue.
01:56If a congestion fee of Rs. 150 is applied to 6 lakh vehicles, the city could earn Rs. 9 crore a day.
02:02With that, we could...
02:03And we will become Vishwaguru.
02:05On average, one car or taxi takes up nearly 10 times the road space of a bus commuter.
02:10Now, motorbikes do only marginally better.
02:12And yet, in cities like Bengaluru, we keep responding to congestion the same way, by adding more roads to absorb more cars.
02:18Should we just start charging the cars for the space they take up?
02:21I know it's controversial, but I want to hear what you have to say.
02:24So, do drop that comment, like and share the video.
02:26I'm Anish Adhikari.
02:28First things fast.
02:32Law.
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