Bengaluru adds nearly 59,000 new vehicles in August, experts warn of ‘gridlock future’

Bengaluru's traffic congestion is set to worsen as the city added 58,913 private vehicles in August 2025, a near 20 per cent increase since April.

As Bengaluru battles mounting traffic congestion and worsening air quality, newly released data from the Transport Department paints a troubling picture: the city added 58,913 private vehicles to its roads in August 2025 alone, a nearly 20 per cent jump from April.

Experts warned that Bengaluru faces an unsustainable future due to unplanned development and inadequate mass transit. (PTI)

This includes 45,595 new two-wheelers and 13,318 cars, up from 36,888 two-wheelers and 12,278 cars in April, the start of the financial year. The spike is part of a larger upward trend in private vehicle ownership, with each month since April showing consistent increases.

With more than 1.06 crore private two-wheelers and cars already registered in the city, civic experts say Bengaluru is spiralling toward an unsustainable future.

“Bengaluru has probably the worst person to vehicle ratio in the world,” said Sandeep Anirudhan, a civic activist. “This city is likely to become a permanent gridlock city. Population is increasing rapidly, but mass transit infrastructure development is extremely slow. The number of buses have not increased. So everyone is purchasing private vehicles,” he explained.

“This is all due to the unplanned development in this city,” he said, adding that it is a direct outcome of unplanned development and the government’s failure to empower planning bodies as per the 74th Constitutional Amendment.

“If the government doesn't move towards a planned approach to development, this will worsen till the city collapses completely. ”

According to him, without a shift toward scientific, long-term planning, led by a properly resourced Metropolitan Planning Committee and District Planning Committees, the situation will only deteriorate. He further urged the government to stop pushing short-term, politically driven road projects and instead base development on data, expert input and sustainability.

Despite repeated warnings from urban planners and mobility experts, the city continues to approve large-scale vehicle-centric infrastructure projects like tunnel roads and flyovers, often at the cost of green cover and public space.

Meanwhile, residents are already feeling the pinch. Average commute times in several parts of the city have stretched beyond an hour, with peak-hour gridlocks now spilling into mid-day traffic.