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'4 km in 45 minutes': Noida founder raises questions on urban infrastructure, internet weighs in
The founder suggested solutions such as flexible work hours, satellite offices, hybrid policies and improved last-mile connectivity to address the issue.
A Noida-based startup founder has sparked a discussion online about long commute times and urban infrastructure challenges after sharing his daily travel experience.
Taking to X, Swapnil Srivastav, founder of Kidbea, said that his office is just 4 km away from his home in Noida, but it takes him 45 minutes to get there by car. “That's not a typo. 4 km. 45 minutes. In a car,” he wrote, adding that he could have walked, taken a chai break and still reached faster.
He pointed out that his case isn’t unique, citing data on average commute times across major cities. He said that cities like Bengaluru and Delhi-NCR report average commute times of around 67.5 minutes, followed by Mumbai (62.5 minutes), Chennai (61 minutes), Hyderabad (59.5 minutes), and Pune (59 minutes). He claimed that the data was based on nearly 14 lakh corporate cab trips, specifically involving employees working in Global Capability Centres (GCCs).
“The most organised, well-funded, globally backed offices in India, and their employees are still losing 2 hours daily sitting in traffic,” he wrote.
“400,000 trips in Bengaluru alone. 300,000 in Delhi-NCR. World-class talent. World-class offices. But the roads connecting homes to those offices? Still stuck in 2004,” he added.
Srivastav further said that because of the long commute, productivity is lost, focus is gone before the first meetings and energy is drained before the laptop even opens. “2 hours of your day just gone. Every single day,” he wrote, estimating that this adds up to nearly 500 hours a year lost in traffic.
He suggested solutions such as flexible work hours, satellite offices, hybrid policies and improved last-mile connectivity to address the issue. “Talent is here. The ambition is here. The work ethic is here. The road just isn't. And until we fix that, we're leaving hundreds of productive hours on the table every single year,” he concluded.
(Also Read: ‘When infrastructure is well maintained’: Flyer praises smooth road to Bengaluru airport’s Terminal 2)
Social media reactions
The post resonated with many users, who shared similar struggles.
One user wrote, “The satellite offices has to be built, I am wasting 4 hours daily in commute. The new RTO mandate is killing productivity like anything. Earlier we were giving same hours to office but now standing in crowded buses and metros,” one user wrote.
“4km in 45 mins is absurd—India's GCC boom is world-class, but our roads are holding back massive productivity. Satellite offices + real hybrid models could unlock hundreds of hours per employee instantly. Talent is ready; infrastructure needs to catch up fast,” commented another.
“That’s not commute. That’s slow-motion suffering. Across India’s top cities, people are spending ~1 hour just to reach office. 2 hours daily. Gone. We’re building global companies…
on local infrastructure that can’t move people 5 km efficiently. Fix the commute, and unlock productivity instantly,” wrote a third user.
“Used to travel 2hrs each way when in living in Mumbai. Now in Pune its 1.5hrs one way. Got lucky with hybrid thanks to Covid otherwise would have left job by now. Better roads, last mile connectivity and multiple modes of transport needed so critically!” shared one user.
