Delhi, Pune fastest metros for on-road travel: Study

NEW DELHI: With an average on-road speed of 23 km per hour, Delhi and Pune are among the fastest in terms of average vehicular movement among the top seven cities in India, says a study.

According to data collected by cab aggregator Ola, Kolkata and Bengaluru were among the slowest with average speeds of 17km/hr and 18 km/hr, respectively.

Chennai, Mumbai and Hyderabad had average speeds of 21, 20 and 19 km/hr, respectively according to data collected over the last six months.

"Location data is core to us at Ola... Hundreds of thousands of vehicles on the Ola app help relay rich data in real-time, helping us predict demand and plan our inventory better," Ola Chief Operating Officer Pranay Jivrajka said.

A lot of this data can also be extremely useful to solve important issues like de-congestion, urban planning, traffic management and more, he added.

"We are working with the government at multiple levels to put this rich data to use over the long term for improving the state of mobility in the cities we live in," Jivrajka said.

The insights showed that the top average speed of Indian traffic is 33 km/hr between 3 AM and 6 AM, while the lowest average speed stands at 18 km/hr between 6 PM to 9 PM when people are usually returning home from work.

"The average speed remains at 19 km/hr between 9 AM to 12 noon when most people travel to their offices. Surprisingly, the average speed picks up by just 1 km/hr between noon and 3 PM, when the traffic from office commute is off the roads," the data showed.

The insights found areas like Charminar (Hyderabad), Domlur and Silk Board (Bengaluru), Park Street and Shyambazaar (Kolkata); and Powai and Saki Naka (Mumbai) to be some of the most "notorious" traffic bootlenecks.