Next time you guys complain about traffic in Boston or Chicago or Los Angeles, just try driving around India’s major cities.

Globalization and Venture Capital:

Earlier this week, my optimism about the infrastructure situation in India took a severe beating as I struggled to get to a meeting in downtown Mumbai crawling through what seemed like an endless chaos of traffic and road construction….what really got me was not the 1hr 40min drive - I was far luckier than almost everyone else on that journey, travelling in comfort and not having to make this trip everyday - but the appalling loss of productivity and the drain on energy caused by this.

As I sat watching the stop-start-stop pattern around me, I could not but help thinking how these infrastructural bottlenecks were making the whole system terribly inefficient…roads and traffic are not the only problem, Mumbai is also facing a severe power shortage as I write this. I was also in Bangalore and New Delhi a few days back - and although both these cities have their share of infrastructure woes, I am afraid Mumbai’s traffic problem has snowballed over the last few years.

When I mentioned about this to some friends, the response I got was: “Its not so bad because everyone factors it in while planning their day; we know its bad”

Some light-to-moderate traffic in Mumbai this morning…

New York Times:

India’s auto market is growing fast, and drivers will soon be able to go faster, too. On Wednesday, the national government raised the speed limit on private cars to 100 kilometers an hour from 80 — roughly, to 60 miles an hour from 48. Commercial traffic and vehicles carrying eight or more passengers will be held to lower limits. The higher speed limits would not apply to city streets, but on the country’s growing highways.

Sales are booming in India, which could surpass China as the world’s fastest-growing market for new cars in the next five years. In one area, however, India already leads the world: traffic fatalities. India has recently recorded more than 90,000 traffic deaths a year, and some reports indicate an even higher figure:

“Nearly 1.05 lakh [105,000] people die in road accidents in India. It is the highest in the world,” Brahm Dutt, secretary of the department of road transport and highways said at the end of a workshop last Saturday to firm up the government’s first policy on road safety. Dutt said deaths on Indian roads now exceed casualties on Chinese roads.

ABC News:

It may be an Indian consumer’s dream - cheap cars for $A3,000-$A3,600 within reach of millions of people in the swelling middle class. But it could also prove to be a traffic and environmental disaster.

In New Delhi alone, more than 200,000 vehicles are added to its streets every year, where they battle with cows, rickshaws and motorbikes for space.

Some light-to-moderate traffic in New Delhi this morning…

BBC News:

Delhi is an overwhelming experience. It is as if all of humanity has been squeezed into one city. The streets groan under the weight of people. The air is filled with deafening noise and sumptuous smells. Switch on the television and it is the same. Between channels blasting out voluptuous Bollywood love stories and pop videos, an endless stream of news channels dissect the latest political scandals, and debauched lifestyles of the rich and famous. Coming from China it is an almost shocking experience.

Honk if you love Vishnu!

Boots N All: India As A Functioning Anarchy:

I am positive that the word clusterfuck was created here by some Westerner riding in a taxi around Delhi. During my month long stay in India, I heard someone say, “Traffic in India is like a functioning anarchy”. I thought that it was a perfect way to describe the orderly craziness! Anything with a wheel is considered a drivable vehicle out on the public streets. Bikes, scooters, tractors, wagons, wheel barrels and rickshaws are all road-worthy vehicles. I have collected some of the common rules, or lack of rules, about driving and transportation in India. My best advice to you is NEVER, and I mean NEVER try to drive yourself in India. It’s suicide. Westerners have no idea of Third World driving, so don’t even try. The rules are that there are no rules.

If there are lines painted on the road for three lanes, that means there is room for five lanes of traffic, leaving about one inch of space between cars, side by side, hurtling down the road. The equation is simple. Double the number of lanes painted on the road (including the shoulder of course!), then subtract one. Granted, this depends on the presence of bikes, auto rickshaws, or cars, but on average, the equation is correct. Remember, in India there is no such thing as personal space, not even on the road.

Stop lights are optional. When coming upon a red light, simply lay on the horn as you speed through the intersection. People run red lights because to sit and actually wait for a red light is excruciating. Stop lights are looonnngggg. I once noticed a Walk /Don’t Walk sign with a little countdown display. I’ve seen these in other countries. In Delhi I saw a countdown sign starting at 200. I am not joking.