As road infrastructure projects and traffic solutions compete for limited resources, the Pune traffic police use Google traffic data to analyse where congestion occurs most often, how long vehicles take to clear affected points, and how long traffic jams persist to help prioritise interventions across the city.

While major infrastructure changes like flyovers and underpasses are under consideration, Manoj Patil, Additional Commissioner of Police, highlighted the critical role of managing travel demand. He noted that smaller administrative measures, specifically staggered timings for various institutions, can play a vital role in redistributing traffic loads across different hours of the day.

“Among smaller measures, we can stagger the timings of, say, businesses, companies, schools and colleges,” Patil told The Indian Express, noting that such measures help distribute travel demand rather than relying solely on continuous road construction.

Staggered timings and travel demand management

On the core…