It’s established – Bengaluru loves to rave about its weather and rant about its infamous and chaotic traffic. But the nasty traffic issue hit closer home when one of our senior tech journalists at AIM recently injured her neck from enduring long and arduous hours of travel in the city’s auto rickshaws.
While searching for a fix to this problem, she stumbled upon a post by a local entrepreneur Paras Chopra, who proposed a solution inspired by a successful scheme in Beijing.
Chopra suggested that such a service could work in Bengaluru's traffic nightmare.
Let’s understand both cities here.
Beijing, being one of the most populated cities in the world with a population of over 21 million people, has introduced a unique solution, “jam busting”, where you pay around $60 for someone to come and rescue you from a traffic jam.
In Beijing, this service involves hiring individuals, often on motorcycles, to navigate through congested areas and help drivers reach their destinations quickly.
Coming to Bengaluru's traffic statistics, as of April 1, 2023, the city had 1.09 crore registered vehicles – 73 lakh of them being two-wheelers. The popularity of bikes, scooters, and mopeds in the city can be attributed to the easy loan availability, ease of parking, and fuel efficiency.
So, when we already have a problem of plenty, introducing more bikes as a solution to traffic woes seems unrealistic.
Post the COVID-19 pandemic, the city opted for an alternative, and a dedicated 17 km cycle lane was laid along the Outer Ring Road (ORR) by the civic authorities in 2020.
This lane catered to a considerable number of employees commuting to their offices within the city’s IT corridor. However, the construction of a Namma Metro line along the same stretch has resulted in the disappearance of the cycle lane.
Netizens raised concerns over the Beijing traffic model adoption, like the cost of such a service and the trustworthiness of ensuring the vehicle reaches back to its owner safely.
Burger a Day Keeps the Traffic Away
In 2019, Burger King launched a marketing campaign called ‘Traffic Jam Whopper’ in Mexico City.
The city is also known for its severe traffic congestion, with commuters often spending hours stuck in traffic jams. The initiative turned traffic congestion into a business opportunity by delivering food to customers stuck in traffic.
Interestingly, there was a significant increase in sales during peak traffic hours, with daily delivery orders in Mexico City rising by 63% during the trial period.
Could such inventive solutions be adopted for Bengaluru? While intriguing, the practical challenges of implementing such services in Karnataka’s capital remain significant.
Google to Solve Bengaluru Traffic Problem
Google’s Project Green Light is helping the city, notorious for its jams and bottlenecks, improve traffic flow at intersections, and reduce stop-and-go emissions.
With AI and insights from Google Maps driving trends, Green Light demonstrates a deep understanding of global road networks. This enables it to model traffic patterns and build intelligent recommendations for city traffic engineers to optimise traffic flow.
“Project Green Light is now live in 13 global cities, like Rio, Hamburg, Bengaluru, and my hometown – Seattle,” said Juliet Rothenberg, the product team lead of Climate AI at Google, in a recent interview with CBS News, demonstrating its workings.
“Every red light is an opportunity for us,” she added.
Further, she said that early numbers indicate a potential for up to 30% reduction in stops and up to 10% cut in emissions at intersections. “At the 70 intersections where Green Light is already live, this can save fuel and lower emissions for up to 30 million car rides monthly,” she said.
Currently, Project Green Light operates at 70 intersections in 12 cities, including Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Kolkata.
Recently, Google collaborated with the Bengaluru Traffic Police to reduce congestion. Features like Street View were introduced to offer real-time updates and alternative routes for faster commutes. Last year, the tech giant partnered with BMTC to optimise routes and schedules available to commuters using mobile phones.
Google’s Project Green Light certainly looks promising for curbing traffic congestion, not only in Bengaluru but also in other cities.
[FYI: This senior tech journalist happens to share a striking resemblance to the author of this piece :’)]
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