{"id":40284,"date":"2026-05-14T23:47:56","date_gmt":"2026-05-15T03:47:56","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/?p=40284"},"modified":"2026-05-14T23:47:58","modified_gmt":"2026-05-15T03:47:58","slug":"bangalores-traffic-a-nuanced-hate-affair","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/visualization\/bangalores-traffic-a-nuanced-hate-affair\/","title":{"rendered":"Bangalore’s Traffic: A Nuanced Hate Affair"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bangalore Traffic? Why would you want to visualize that? Isn\u2019t it just terrible everywhere?<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Well, yes. Bangalore is infamous for terrible traffic. I\u2019ve probably spent most of my life in it (can\u2019t confirm unless I get the data together and also visualize that).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the course of the last few weeks, I\u2019ve been visualizing and working with a Kaggle dataset<\/a> on Bangalore\u2019s traffic. It records entries from 2022 to 2024, specifically across 8 neighborhoods and the 16 roads within them (2 roads per neighborhood). At each road\/intersection, different metrics are recorded that highlight a fuller picture of traffic and commuting. This includes the traffic congestion levels, pedestrian count, safety metrics such as incident counts, and environmental impact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There are more than 8000 records, allowing for an interesting dive into the data. In exploring the data, I have used charts and graphs<\/a>, maps<\/a>, and networks<\/a> to visualize different facets of it. Through it all, I\u2019ve learned a couple of things, and here\u2019s some data to accompany it: Bangalore\u2019s traffic is bad, yes, but it\u2019s a lot more nuanced even in this mess.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cDon\u2019t even say Silk Board. It\u2019s a part of the city I\u2019d never want to enter.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In this hate affair with Bangalore traffic, there are some roads we often think of as being the biggest bottle necks in the city. An incredibly common one is Silk Board, which is a major bus stop and a pretty massive connecting road. It\u2019s the butt of many jokes, and a junction that most people dread (source<\/a>). I thought it\u2019d be interesting to actually see what the data tells us.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s a map and network that highlights the congestion levels. The thicker and dark red lines are the areas with a higher congestion level, while thinner and green lines represent lower traffic congestion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Really? Silk Board\u2019s traffic isn\u2019t the worst? That can\u2019t be real<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Well, here\u2019s the kicker. Silk Board\u2019s traffic isn\u2019t just low, it\u2019s the lowest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

THE LOWEST!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I know. I didn\u2019t believe it either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Want more proof. Here\u2019s a breakdown across each road.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

There\u2019s Koramangala, with Sony signal and Sarjapur road with the highest congestion levels, and silk board all the way at the bottom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Didn\u2019t think I\u2019d see this day. Maybe the data just says this, but I will concede- driving through it is still an absolute nightmare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, is it the speed? Because I feel stuck at Silk Board.<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Here\u2019s where it gets interesting. Vehicle speed is definitely slower where congestion is higher, but not with the kind of margin you\u2019d expect. Even though congestion at Silk Board is around 50% and Sarjapur around 90%, vehicle speed isn\u2019t that far off. At Silk Board it\u2019s around 43 kilometers per hour, and at Sarjapur it\u2019s around 36 kilometers per hour. That\u2019s not that big a deal. You can hover over each point<\/a> on the dashboard to view the details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Well. Alright. There\u2019s enough about the traffic. But what about the safety? Traffic isn\u2019t just hindering getting to places. It\u2019s the overall urban planning of the city that gets annoying.<\/em><\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Well, that\u2019s kind of it, wouldn\u2019t you say. Walking in Bangalore is hard. Accidents are scary. Public transport is kind of terrible (admittedly I\u2019m spoiled from having lived in Delhi and New York, but still).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So, what do we know about these roads beyond their congestion?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is what led me to create the dashboard<\/a> focusing on the specific roads and intersections, and then data about the congestion, public transport usage, incident reports and pedestrian and cyclist count.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Snippet of the Interactive Dashboard<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Surprisingly, the roads with the highest congestion aren\u2019t the ones with the most incidents. Instead, it\u2019s the Indiranagar area and M.G Road area, part of the central business district region which have the highest incident count from 2022 to 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As for pedestrian and cyclist count, the areas with lower congestion, name silk board and Hosur road (the electronic city neighborhood) have the greatest number of pedestrians and cyclists. This does bring up something to reflect about for residents, and also from an urban planning standpoint and prompting one to think about the walkability of an area, whether it\u2019s necessary to rely on a vehicle and whether cycling could also work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here again I draw your attention to the Electronic City neighborhood which is a mini city of sorts within Bangalore. It is a well-planned region within an otherwise poorly planned city, with various residential complexes, tech parks and so on. This might point at what good planning can do for making a region more habitable for residents as pedestrians and cyclists.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The public transport is also interesting. 100 feet road and Anil Kumble circle rank as the roads with the highest public transport usage. I wondered if that might have something to do with the Bangalore metro stations, but South End circle and Trinity Circle, also two prominent metro stations rank at the bottom. I think a deeper analysis of public transport, perhaps with an inclusion of metro and bus data would help paint a better picture. If time permitted, and there was clearly available data of this nature, I would look into it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall, yes, Bangalore traffic is terrible, but the data also suggests that there are complex patterns across the board, and they are definitely worth looking into, especially if you\u2019re the one wading (yes, roads flood so you\u2019d be wading), driving, cycling or walking through these streets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Bangalore Traffic? Why would you want to visualize that? Isn\u2019t it just terrible everywhere? Well, yes. Bangalore is infamous for terrible traffic. I\u2019ve probably spent most of my life in it (can\u2019t confirm unless I get the data together and also visualize that). Over the course of the last few weeks, I\u2019ve been visualizing and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4595,"featured_media":40289,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[150,1],"tags":[1933,1937,115,39,5,31,106,123,502,94],"coauthors":[1919],"class_list":["post-40284","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-projects","category-visualization","tag-bangalore","tag-data-storytelling","tag-data-visualization","tag-gephi","tag-information-visualization","tag-maps","tag-network-visualization","tag-tableau-public","tag-traffic","tag-visualization"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/3\/2026\/05\/Frame-1-3-scaled.png?fit=2560%2C1946&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paBdcV-atK","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40284","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4595"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=40284"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40284\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40290,"href":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40284\/revisions\/40290"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/40289"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=40284"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=40284"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=40284"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentwork.prattsi.org\/infovis\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=40284"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}