Hotmail co-founder Sabeer Bhatia has stirred up a storm online with his blunt take on Bengaluru’s never-ending traffic mess. In a recent post on X (formerly Twitter), Bhatia didn’t hold back his frustration after spending time in India’s so-called Silicon Valley.
“Maybe this will sound harsh to locals… but the traffic here is just out of control. I cover the same distance on a cycle in California in a third of the time. How do people put up with this every single day?” he wrote from his private account.
It’s not just venting—he’s got a point. Bengaluru’s traffic has gone from bad to unbearable. As per the 2024 TomTom Traffic Index, the city now ranks as the third slowest in the world when it comes to road congestion. Just getting through 10 kilometers takes an average of over 34 minutes—and that’s on a normal day. During rush hours, it’s even worse: nearly 39 minutes in the morning and close to 42 in the evening.
Bhatia’s post hit a nerve and sparked a wave of responses from worn-out residents, many of whom have long given up hope of improvement.
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“This city needs a wake-up call. Maybe companies and workers should start moving out. Only then will anyone in power care about fixing things,” one user fumed.
Another replied, “Governments don’t seem interested. The only real solution is to stop bringing more businesses here.”
Others pointed fingers at companies themselves. “Most big employers don’t even care. My company has 50,000 people driving in and out daily and still doesn’t offer cab services,” user @balajiworld commented. “They could at least maintain the roads around their own buildings—but they don’t.”
Bengaluru’s infrastructure crisis isn’t new, but voices like Bhatia’s—and the public reactions that follow—might just keep the spotlight on a city where world-class tech meets third-rate traffic.
