Bengaluru: Prashant Pitti, the co-founder of EaseMyTrip, has offered Rs 1 crore to help fix Bengaluru's traffic problems using technology. He made this promise after getting stuck in traffic for over two hours on Outer Ring Road on a Saturday night. In a post on X (earlier known as Twitter), Pitti said it took him more than 100 minutes to move just a few kilometres, and there was no traffic signal or police at one busy junction.
Frustrated by the situation, Pitti said he didn’t want to see any more jokes or memes about Bengaluru traffic. Instead, he wanted to take action and try to fix it. He mentioned that Google Maps has a new feature called "Road Management Insight" that provides detailed traffic data. Using this, along with satellite images and artificial intelligence (AI), he believes it's possible to find where traffic gets stuck the most and at what times.
To make this idea work, Pitti said he is ready to pay for hiring one or two experienced AI or machine learning (ML) engineers. He will also cover the costs of using Google Maps tools, satellite data, and the computers needed to run the system. However, for the plan to succeed, the Bengaluru Traffic Police or BBMP (city authorities) need to help by sharing their traffic data and allowing a team to work on it.
Pitti also asked the public to support his idea. He encouraged people to tag traffic officials, spread the word, and invite AI experts to join the project. “Bangalore is India’s tech future,” he said, adding that the people working hard in the city deserve much better roads and traffic management.
People online responded very positively. Many said they were ready to help and join the project. Several AI professionals even replied to Pitti’s post, saying they were willing to contribute their time and skills to fix the traffic issue.
