‘11km crawl in 2.15 hours’: EaseMyTrip co-founder Prashant Pitti pledges Rs 1cr; Bengaluru traffic in focus; AI, Google Maps & satellite data to drive solution | Bengaluru News

NEW DELHI: Frustrated by yet another long, chaotic drive through Bengaluru’s infamous traffic last Saturday night, EaseMyTrip co-founder Prashant Pitti was prompted to take action.He wrote in his X post “11 km → 2.15 hours in Bengaluru traffic on Saturday late night! I was stuck at one choke-point on the Outer Ring Road (ORR) for 100 minutes, struggling to understand why there was no traffic light or cop managing the chaos.” But instead of just sharing another Bengaluru traffic rant, he is now pledging ₹1 crore to find a data-driven solution to the city’s congestion woes. The project aims to map congestion zones and pinpoint their peak hours, providing Bengaluru’s traffic authorities with precise, data-driven insights to enable targeted interventions. Bengaluru’s traffic woes have long frustrated commuters and impacted the city’s reputation as India’s tech hub. Utilizing recently available “Road Management Insight” data from Google Maps and satellite imagery, Pitti plans to list choke points along with exact congestion timings over a month. The initiative will help authorities focus resources where they are needed most. To kickstart the project, Pitti seeks collaboration from the Bangalore Traffic Police (BTP) and the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), urging them to provide raw data feeds or API access and appoint a dedicated team to act on the insights. Alongside his ₹1 crore funding, Pitti has invited AI and ML engineers, data analysts, satellite imagery experts, and others to join the effort, many volunteering pro-bono. “I am committing INR 1 Cr to find Bengaluru choke-points via Google Maps & AI. I don’t want one more meme or rant; I want to fix it,” he said. Pitti is also calling on citizens frustrated by daily traffic delays to raise awareness and help push for faster action.