EaseMyTrip co-founder Prashant Pitti vows to cut Bengaluru traffic by 30% in one year

Indian Express

2 days ago

EaseMyTrip Co-founder Prashant Pitti Thursday announced a collaborative initiative aimed at reducing traffic congestion in Bengaluru by 25-30 per cent within a year.
The plan, which brings together public institutions, private firms, and scientific minds on a common platform, was initiated following a series of high-level meetings over the past 10 days with key stakeholders, including Bengaluru traffic police, Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), city police, Google India, IISc researchers, and mobility entrepreneurs.
On social media platform X, Pitti described the collaboration as unprecedented, where for the first time all key public and private players will be working together. The initiative will rely heavily on data science, AI-driven simulations, and community involvement to enable real-time interventions and long-term systemic fixes.
Among the immediate steps outlined, Pitti is exploring traffic simulation models with IISc and the traffic police's already established rerouting simulation tools that prioritise time over distance. Pitti has also approached Google, Uber, Ola, and Rapido to share anonymised data to strengthen predictive models. 'Once operational, these could anticipate and prevent gridlocks before they happen,' he said.
Pitti has offered to take charge of an existing government grievance redressal app, expanding its scope beyond potholes to cover illegal parking, broken signals, waterlogging, and more. He said he was aiming to promote transparency by publicly showcasing complaints and resolution timelines. To prevent delays in road work due to unexpected rain, Pitti has also proposed a real-time weather predictor that will proactively address drainage-related disruptions.
The approach signals a shift from infrastructure dependence to optimisation of existing systems using technology, intent, and data. 'If we continue to wait for infrastructure upgrades, we are merely playing catch-up,' Pitti said, emphasising that practical optimism and collaboration can solve what appears unfixable.
Pitti has also launched a WhatsApp community to crowdsource feedback from daily commuters on trouble zones. He appealed to the public to contribute by identifying junctions with major congestion issues, helping the project pinpoint focus areas.
This fresh announcement builds on an earlier offer made by Pitti on July 14, where he committed Rs 1 crore to fund a project aimed at identifying and solving choke points across Bengaluru using Google Maps' Road Management Insight, launched recently for city-level traffic analytics.
The budget was proposed for hiring senior Machine Learning/Artificial Intelligence engineers, procuring Graphics Processing Unit resources and satellite imagery, funding Application Programming Interface calls, data storage, and creating detailed, time-based maps of chronic congestion zones.