Bengaluru Traffic Police push for carpooling to ease ORR congestion

Following Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent appeal encouraging citizens to adopt carpooling to mitigate traffic and fuel-related concerns, the Bengaluru Traffic Police on Wednesday (May 14, 2026) renewed calls for IT companies to promote carpooling and public transport usage to reduce congestion on the Outer Ring Road (ORR).

The appeal was made during a high-level meeting under the chairmanship of City Police Commissioner Seemanth Kumar Singh.

The meeting was attended by senior officials from various government departments along with nearly 180 representatives from IT companies functioning along the ORR corridor.

Addressing the gathering, Karthik Reddy, Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic), said that one of the major reasons for traffic congestion on the ORR is the uniform office timings followed by most IT companies. He urged companies to cooperate with the traffic police by encouraging employees to adopt carpooling practices and make greater use of public transportation facilities.

Officials from the Greater Bengaluru Authority, BMTC and the Transport Department also received grievances and suggestions from employees of various IT companies and assured them that suitable measures would be initiated to address their concerns and improve traffic flow.

It may be recalled that traffic police officials in the past had urged IT companies to stagger office timings to ensure smoother vehicular movement across the ORR corridor. Authorities had also earlier advised companies and employees to increasingly rely on public transport and carpooling initiatives. However, the proposals reportedly saw limited implementation due to feasibility and operational challenges faced by companies and employees alike.