‘Bengaluru traffic will improve by 30% in a year': EaseMyTrip co-founder after meeting city officials

Hindustan Times

4 days ago

Just days after pledging ₹1 crore to help fix Bengaluru's chronic traffic congestion, EaseMyTrip co-founder Prashant Pitti has shared a major update, a plan he says could reduce traffic in the city by 25–30% within a year. Prashant Pitti met with the Commissioners of the Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP).(X/Prashant Pitti)
Pitti met with the Commissioners of the Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP), Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), and the City Police to discuss actionable solutions to the gridlock plaguing the city. Taking to social media platform X, he wrote, 'MAJOR UPDATE on Bangalore Traffic Project! I am confident of improving Bangalore traffic by 25-30% within a year's time.'
Check out his post here:
In a detailed post, Pitti said he has brought together key public and private stakeholders, including officials, Google's team, IISc professors, scientists, road engineers, and traffic-tech entrepreneurs, to collaborate on the initiative.
He highlighted that both BTP and IISc already have simulation models capable of generating multiple re-routing options to reduce travel time. He has also requested mobility data from Google, Uber, Ola, and Rapido to improve the accuracy of these models.
Quick optimization ideas
Among the quick optimization ideas he listed is the enhancement of the government's existing complaint app for potholes. Pitti said he plans to take ownership of the platform and expand its capabilities to cover issues like illegal parking, broken signals, wrong-side driving, waterlogging, and vehicle breakdowns. To improve transparency, he also aims to publicly display all complaints and the corresponding action taken, with timestamps.
Pitti also proposed a 'Hyperlocal Rain Predictor' to help the city plan roadwork better. "Govt closes the road to do infra/maintenance work, but then it starts raining on that patch of road and work halts. This leads to crazy downtime and traffic congestion. Hyperlocal Rain Predictor project will also allow us to fix drainage issues, even before it happens," he wrote.
He further noted that a pilot project is already underway to implement 'Green Wave Signals,' a system that syncs traffic lights so that vehicles can move in waves rather than stop at every junction. 'We will analyse the results to see if it makes sense to be done at city level,' he added.
Pitti also addressed critics who say the traffic issue stems from poor infrastructure. "Many people mentioned in my last post 'Bangalore Traffic is an Infra problem', congrats on stating the obvious. If we continue to wait for the infra to become better, then we are merely playing a catch-up game with the West," he wrote.
'There is so much scope to optimize current infra, and I would rather focus on that. This is no longer about rants or blaming the system. It's about practical optimism, believing that with data, intent, and collaboration, we can improve what feels unfixable.'
He also invited the public to join a WhatsApp community where people can post traffic issues they face at specific junctions or roads. These details, he said, will be compiled and shared with authorities.
Pitti had earlier revealed that the idea was born out of a frustrating experience where he was stuck in traffic for over two hours while covering just 11 km late at night in Bengaluru. He spent 100 minutes stranded at a choke point on Outer Ring Road, with no traffic light or police officer in sight.
(Also Read: Worm found in pongal at Rameshwaram Cafe's Bengaluru airport outlet, owners cry foul)