Because of traffic jams, every car in Mumbai consumes 10 percent more fuel, according to Mumbai traffic police. Fuel consumption in the metro has shot up also due to ongoing construction activities like metro and monorails, bridges, street and haphazard parking, traffic snarls, bad road conditions, vehicle breakdowns and even ill-timed signals.

The Times of India has reported that 4,00,000 people drive towards south Mumbai during peak  hours every day, of whom 3,00,000 own petrol vehicles and 2,00,000 people drive towards Andheri and western suburbs. Majority traffic comes from the city’s north or east. The average one-way distance is roughly 40 kms. More than 4,50,000 vehicles pass through the eastern and western corridors every day.

“People are ready to pay toll, but wasting time on commute and wastage of fuel are bad for the city and its residents,” said Nitin Dossa, executive president, Western India Automobile Association. “There is no concrete move on the part of the government to build sea link extensions. It is over a decade but the government has failed to appoint a developer for Sewri- Nhava Shewa Sea Link.”

“Since the government collects taxes on fuel and vehicles towards infrastructure development, facilities on road should have been better. Why cannot Mumbai have elevated rail corridors when cities in other countries have managed to build them? Why cannot we have fast direct AC buses  and trains from Borivali to Churchgate, Khargarh to CST or Borivali to Dadar,” he said, pointing out the lack of planned development keeping in mind  fast pace of the city.

The traffic police expect faster road clearance once Lalbaug flyover on Dr Ambedkar Road, Suman Nagar flyover on Eastern Express Highway and the Burfiwala Lane flyover on SV Road are thrown open.

Traffic jams on the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road, where construction work has been on for the last four years, leads to traffic delay of 30-40 minutes at the narrow Kanjurmarg railway bridge leading to substantial loss of fuel.