Has Hyderabad’s average travel speed gone up from 20.1 kmph in 2024 to 23.4 kmph in 2025?

Hyderabad's average travel speed increased from 20.1 kmph in 2024 to 23.4 kmph in 2025, analyzed through advanced data systems.

When the Telangana Socio Economic Outlook 2026 reported that Hyderabad’s average travel speed rose from 20.1 kmph in 2024 to 23.4 kmph in 2025, it appeared counterintuitive in a city where vehicle numbers continue to surge each year. But how exactly is a city’s ‘average speed’ calculated?

The answer lies not in a single data point, but in a layered system that blends technology, corridor-based analysis and constant monitoring of traffic behaviour across key stretches of the city.

At the centre of this system is Arcadis, a global design, engineering and consultancy firm tasked with managing traffic signal systems and analysing movement patterns in Hyderabad. Rather than relying on manual observations or isolated studies, the company works with large volumes of anonymised mobility data sourced from digital platforms.

“We basically take anonymised data from map-driven aggregators like TomTom, Google, ride hailing platforms and more,” said Srinivas Ganji, Director at Arcadis. “This gives us a continuous and realistic picture of how vehicles are moving across the city at different times of the day,” he said.

This raw data is then filtered through a carefully defined framework. Instead of attempting to measure speed across every street, planners identify between 25 major corridors that carry the bulk of Hyderabad’s traffic. These include arterial stretches such as Road No. 1, Road No. 10 and Road No. 44 in Banjara Hills, along with critical routes linking Punjagutta, Jubilee Hills, Mehdipatnam, Hitec City and Gachibowli.

Traffic jams in Punjagutta of Hyderabad. | Photo Credit: NAGARA GOPAL