Commute Times in Gujranwala: How Long Will You Burn a Hole in the Sky?

if you’re driving to work in gujranwala these days, brace yourself. one minute you’re out your front door, the next you’re sitting in the middle of rajpur road like some kind of metaphysical traffic jam. i took this week’s commute as a freelance photographer-bags full of camera gear, thinking maybe i’d finally catch that perfect shot of the badshahi mosque at sunrise. turned out i caught the red light instead. and the yellow one. and the one that flickered green for 0.3 seconds before dying.

looking at traffic data for gujranwala, you’ll find averages that sound reasonable-15 minutes to downtown, 20 to that weirdly expensive neighborhood south of town. but averages lie. try going toward the antique bazaar every morning at 8am and you’ll realize time is a lie invented by people who don’t commute through the shujaat kashmiri xing. here’s the messy truth: gujranwala’s roads are like a game of angry snakes and ladders designed by someone with a vendetta against punctuality.

*commuting in gujranwala runs on two laws: 1) if it’s raining, traffic doubles. rain makes this place forget it has sidewalks. 2) if a street vendor’s cart is parked where it shouldn’t be, traffic triples. and those vendors? they’re out here building little kingdoms. one guy near buddha nagar station sells jalebis shaped like rickshaws. creativity! also, murderous rage.

i asked a bus conductor about commute times once. he spilled chai, told me he once drove from here to lahore for a gig and got stuck at a excavator site near data room college for 6 hours. six hours! imagine explaining that to tiktok. he said something about how the city’s traffic isn’t just slow-it’s entrenched*. which sounds dramatic, but hey, he’s the kind of guy who memorizes every traffic light sequence in lala mandi.
data from the gujranwala development authority shows average commute times increased 37% since 2021. rent in downtown areas is up 22% too, so now i feel like i’m driving into a wall of greed and construction cones. if you want affordable housing, good luck. the only thing cheaper than the roads is the job market.

locals call this place ‘the city of comfort food’-which i guess means we take bad roads with sugar. but seriously, the job scene here is rough. unemployment’s at 14%, so either you’re freelance (hola, me) or you’re stuck in some corporate purgatory. insurance inspectors hate this part of town. same with data analysts. if you’re a button-pusher, you’ll be mapping out office relocations across the murree road berm instead of actually doing your job.

and the people! oh the people. your ‘neighbors’ here are just folks yelling at goats in their backyards. one guy’s been playing his harmonium at 3am for two years straight. another family breeds pigeons in their living room. pigeons! and if you honk near dholwan xing, you’ll get a standing ovation from someone who confused you for a part of their morning ritual.

so, will you spend hours in traffic here? absolutely. will you find a way to love it anyway? i did. the city’s weird rhythm-like a broken clock that somehow still shows the right time once in a while-keeps me coming back. just yesterday, i saw a man ride his scooter down the dhana road divider. flip him the bird, and he gave me a thumbs-up. gujranwala traffic: it’s a war, but it’s also a vibe.

check out tripadvisor for chaotic road guides | yelp reviews of local chai spots during rush hour | this subreddit might save your sanity | weather forecast: 35°C and existential dread, daily

Commute Times in Gujranwala: How Long Will You Burn a Hole in the Sky?

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About the author: Arthur Webb

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