Hotmail founder criticises Bengaluru traffic, says, 'How do people tolerate this every day?'

Hotmail co-founder Sabeer Bhatia has reignited the conversation around India’s urban infrastructure, particularly Bengaluru’s infamous traffic congestion, with a strongly worded post on X.

"I know Bengaluru folks may call this negative… but the traffic here is INSANE. I ride the same distance on my bicycle in 1/3 the time in the Bay Area. How do people tolerate this every day?" Bhatia wrote in his private X account.

Bhatia's criticism is valid, given that in recent years, Bengaluru’s traffic congestion has reached staggering levels. According to the 2024 TomTom Traffic Index, the city emerged as the world’s third slowest for traffic, with the average travel time for just 10 km pegged at 34 minutes 10 seconds, up roughly 50 seconds year-over-year.

During peak hours, commuters endured even longer journeys—38 minutes 50 seconds in the morning (≈15.5 km/h) and 41 minutes 59 seconds in the evening (≈14.3 km/h).

Bhatia's remarks also struck a chord with frustrated commuters and entrepreneurs alike, prompting a flood of reactions online.

"We have to start boycotting Bengaluru, only way to bring them to their senses, techies can easily relocate their jobs and startups their base to teach the state a lesson in infra," a user wrote.

"I don’t think any government is keen to solve the problem. The only solution is that new companies should not come to Bangalore," another said.

"Corporate responsibility is non-existent in Bengaluru. Fixing the roads in front of their own premises will massively help, but companies don't do it. My employer, for example, has more than 50k employees driving to work every day because they don't provide cab pickups," Balaji (@balajiworld) added.