As Bengaluru continues to reel under chronic traffic congestion, worsened by rapid urbanisation and a booming tech industry, EaseMyTrip co-founder Prashant Pitti has proposed a bold, tech-driven initiative to tackle the city’s infamous choke points. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), Pitti announced that he would commit Rs 1 crore of personal funds to identify and resolve the worst traffic bottlenecks in the city using artificial intelligence and Google Maps data.
The pledge came after Pitti found himself stuck on Bengaluru’s Outer Ring Road (ORR) over the weekend, spending more than two hours covering just 11 kilometres. According to his post, he was stranded for 100 minutes at a single choke point, where neither a traffic light nor a police officer was present to manage the flow.
“I was stuck at one choke-point at ORR, where I spent 100 mins struggling to understand why there is no traffic-light or cop here! But I don’t want one more ‘Bengaluru Traffic Memes or Rant’. I WANT TO FIX IT,” Pitti wrote.
In his post, Pitti pledged to fund the hiring of one to two senior machine learning/artificial intelligence engineers, as well as the operational costs associated with the project. These include access to Google Maps API calls, satellite imagery, and GPU infrastructure to process large-scale traffic data.
“I am committing INR 1 Cr to find Bangalore Choke-Points via Google Maps & AI,” he wrote. “I am willing to spend INR 1 Crore on this project by funding: 1-2 senior ML/AI engineers. And providing budget for using Google Maps API calls, Satellite Imagery & GPUs.”
He also referred to the recently introduced “Road Management Insight” feature by Google Maps, which offers city-level traffic data through BigQuery. Mr Pitti believes this data can be harnessed to identify bottlenecks and their timings with high precision.
However, he acknowledged that the success of the project would depend on institutional cooperation, especially from the Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP). He called upon these authorities to open access to raw traffic data and assign a dedicated team to act on the AI-generated insights.
“This project will only succeed if BTP or BBMP opens their raw traffic data/API and allocates a team to act on insights,” he noted.
In addition, Pitti shared a Google Form inviting individuals with relevant expertise to collaborate on the project. He encouraged members of the public to tag traffic officials and spread the message so it reaches key stakeholders.
“Bangalore is India’s tech future,” Pitti added. “And the people making it happen deserve much better.”
Pitti’s announcement quickly gained traction online. Many users praised the effort, while others offered practical suggestions and volunteered their professional skills.
One user commented: “Good initiative! Honestly, Bengaluru needs good roads, free from congestion.”
Another lauded the vision: “Fantastic commitment and it will be truly a replicable civic achievement in the making, when (and not IF) you succeed.”
Some responses offered a dose of political realism. One user wrote: “Better you contact MPs like @Tejasvi_Surya and @PCMohanMP — at least they may listen to you. Talking to the traffic police will give you no results.”
Another comment read: “We need more citizens to be part of Namma Bengaluru improvements. Thank you, Prashant.”
Several AI/ML professionals responded positively, with multiple users expressing eagerness to contribute. “Hey Prashant, interested in contributing,” one user wrote.
“Hi Prashant. We have done some work on this already. Happy to connect,” said another.
“I am interested to work. I was thinking about this for a long time but never took any initiative.
Happy to see you’ve planned this. I’d love to be part of the AI/ML team,” a third user added.
A user also mentioned submitting an architectural proposal to the government previously and expressed interest in collaborating on the current project: “Regarding the architectural proposal submitted to the ministry via email to address traffic management, I am pleased to learn that our perspectives align. I am available to share the proposal, discuss its details, and collaborate on its implementation.”
With a population exceeding 13 million and millions of registered vehicles, Bengaluru has long struggled with traffic gridlock. Narrow roads, poor urban planning, inadequate public transportation infrastructure, and continuous construction have only worsened commute times. Peak-hour travel can stretch to multiple hours, affecting residents’ productivity and quality of life.
Despite interventions such as metro expansion, traffic surveillance, and smart city initiatives, the city's traffic issues remain largely unresolved.
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