The report released on Wednesday said India's congestion level in 2021 was 23% lower than pre-Covid times, with a decrease of 31% specifically during peak hours. In 2020, the traffic congestion in three big Indian cities - Mumbai, Bengaluru and Delhi - made it to the top 10 list in the last edition of the traffic index report. While Mumbai was ranked second, Bengaluru was at sixth position and Delhi eighth among 416 cities across 56 countries.

According to the report, congestion level in Delhi came down to 48 points in 2021 from 53 points in 2019 and the peak traffic congestion also reduced by 17% in 2021. The city saw its worst traffic day on August 21, when it recorded the worst rainfall in a day. The waterlogged pockets caused widespread traffic logjams and increase in congestion levels.

Sachin Tyagi, strategic automotive business development manager of TomTom told TOI, "Globally, peak hours shifted in almost 40% of the cities and that's due to the changes in our working habits with work from home becoming predominant and online conferences replacing physical meetings." He said this could be one of the reasons why Bengaluru, which has a high number of IT firms, saw a sharp decline in congestion level during 2021.

(With inputs from agencies)