Why Bengaluru’s Flyovers Aren’t Easing Traffic and What We Should Be Building Instead

Bengaluru, often dubbed the Silicon Valley of India, is no stranger to traffic congestion. In a bid to solve the city’s notorious gridlocks, the government and urban planners have been consistently investing in flyovers and elevated corridors. Over the past decade, a significant chunk of Bengaluru’s infrastructure budget has gone into building these structures, often hailed as quick fixes to decongest roads. But despite these efforts, the traffic woes of Bengalureans remain largely unchanged — and in some areas, even worse.

Flyovers: A Misguided Solution?

Flyovers are often seen as symbols of progress — sleek, elevated roads bypassing snarled junctions. They are built with the intention of allowing vehicles to glide over bottlenecks. However, what many forget is that flyovers only shift the congestion from one point to another, rather than eliminating it. They may ease movement over a single intersection, but they do not address the larger systemic issues — the sheer volume of private vehicles, lack of parking space, narrow internal roads, and insufficient last-mile connectivity.

Urban planners around the world have pointed out the phenomenon of induced demand — when road capacity is increased, more people choose to drive, which in turn leads to more traffic. Bengaluru has fallen squarely into this trap. Each new flyover encourages more car usage, making the city’s traffic problems self-perpetuating.

What Bengaluru Really Needs: Public Transport

If Bengaluru wants to truly tackle its traffic problem, the focus needs to shift from cars to people. That means prioritizing mass public transport.

The city’s Namma Metro has shown promising potential, but it remains incomplete and poorly integrated with other modes of transit. Buses, run by the BMTC, still form the backbone of public transport, but they’re often delayed, overcrowded, and hampered by the same traffic as private vehicles due to a lack of dedicated lanes.

Instead of more flyovers, the city should be investing in:

• Expanding the Metro network to cover more areas, especially the outskirts where a large chunk of IT workers live.
• Dedicated bus lanes to ensure quicker travel times for the majority who rely on BMTC.
• Feeder services like minibuses, autos, and bicycles that connect people from metro or bus stations to their homes and offices.
• Pedestrian and cycling infrastructure to encourage non-motorized transport.
• Better integration and ticketing systems between various forms of public transport to make them more user-friendly and efficient.

The Environmental and Social Cost

Flyovers also come with an environmental cost. Their construction leads to the cutting down of trees, dust pollution, and noise. In some areas, they have disrupted communities, blocking sunlight, reducing property values, and even increasing crime in the dark spaces beneath. Moreover, the emphasis on flyovers often sidelines the needs of pedestrians and cyclists, making roads even more dangerous for them.

A Shift in Vision

Cities that have successfully tackled traffic — like Tokyo, Singapore, and Copenhagen — have done so not by building more roads, but by reducing dependence on private vehicles. Bengaluru must take a cue from these global examples. It needs a people-first approach to urban mobility, not a car-first one.

In conclusion, Bengaluru’s flyover spree is not a sustainable solution. Unless the city makes serious investments in reliable, accessible, and affordable public transport, the dream of a traffic-free Bengaluru will remain just that — a dream suspended above the gridlock, like the flyovers themselves.