As Christmas and New Year draw closer, the usually choked roads of Hyderabad’s IT corridor are beginning to ease, offering commuters a brief but tangible respite from the daily grind.
Daily traffic count and classification reports from the Cyberabad traffic police indicate that vehicle volumes on the key arterial stretches across the commissionerate have declined sharply by mid-December, with officials expecting the numbers to taper further in the coming days as offices thin out.
On the Radisson Hotel stretch between Le Meridien and the Gachibowli flyover, total vehicle movement reduced from 1,86,886 on December 1 to 1,26,033 by December 15, marking a decline of over one-third in less than two weeks. Car traffic alone dropped by nearly 30%, falling from 85,329 to 59,466, while two-wheeler movement eased from 60,032 to 40,274. Bus traffic recorded one of the steepest declines on this stretch, almost halving from 1,881 to 1,010 during the same period.
A comparable trend was recorded on the Hitec City Road–Yashoda Hospital stretch, where the total number of vehicles captured by traffic cameras declined from 1,91,123 on December 1 to 1,39,881 on December 15, a reduction of over 27%. Cars, two-wheelers and autorickshaws all registered notable drops, with volumes falling from 73,544 to 54,957, 87,545 to 62,216, and 23,468 to 17,811 respectively, translating into declines ranging between 24 and 29%.
The busy Cable Bridge–Ikea corridor also reflected the seasonal slowdown. Traffic volumes fell from 2,18,225 on December 1 to 1,58,466 by December 15, a reduction of nearly 60,000 vehicles or 27%. While car numbers declined from 1,02,708 to 76,516 and two-wheelers from 85,820 to 60,861, bus movement on this stretch saw one of the sharpest changes, dropping by 46% from 1,406 to just 764. Autorickshaw traffic also eased from 23,466 to 17,208.
On the Shaikpet–Raidurgam stretch, total vehicle movement reduced from 2,22,396 to 1,52,686 over the same 15-day period. Each vehicle category recorded a broadly similar decline of around 30%, with cars falling from 90,372 to 60,922, two-wheelers from 92,966 to 64,854, buses from 2,659 to 1,722, and autorickshaws from 30,545 to 21,733.
“The traffic is decreasing by 10-15% per day and will reduce further as fewer employees are travelling during the festive season,” said T. Sai Manohar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Madhapur.
The trend is also visible in cumulative monthly data. Between November 1 and 15, around 17 lakh vehicles were recorded on the Hitec City–Yashoda Hospital stretch, which dipped marginally to 16.8 lakh during December 1 to 15. On the Shaikpet–Gachibowli route, traffic volumes eased from 13.9 lakh to 13.7 lakh during the same comparative periods.
For daily commuters, the numbers are translating into precious minutes saved. Aditya Sharma, who works with a financial services firm in Gachibowli, said most teams have shifted to work-from-home arrangements or are on leave for the festive season. “There are barely any employees in offices or on the roads these days. I am now reaching my office in 20 minutes, which would otherwise take 40 minutes during peak hours,” he said.
Prithvi Kumar, an IT employee commuting from Gachibowli to Ramanthapur, echoed the sentiment. “I am saving at least 15 to 20 minutes every day. On some days, I start at 6 p.m. and reach home by 6.45 p.m., which is nearly half the time it usually takes on a regular weekday,” he said, adding that while some choke points, including Malkam Cheruvu, Mehdipatnam signal and the Masab Tank junction, continue to see congestion, overall travel has become noticeably smoother.
Published – December 18, 2025 08:02 pm IST
