Bengaluru, India –September 26, 2024: The highly anticipated 2024 Bengaluru Mobility Challenge concluded successfully at the Symposium on Data for Public Good, 2nd Edition, with innovative teams from across the country showcasing data-driven solutions to improve urban mobility in Bengaluru.  

The two-phase competition was organised jointly by Bengaluru Traffic Police (BTP) and Centre of Data for Public Good (CDPG), which is part of IISc’s Foundation of Science Innovation and Technology. It attracted top talent from universities, startups, and research institutions. The event was part of the IEEE Dataport Competitions, the challenge focused on solving problems related to traffic congestion, improving public transit, and enhancing the overall urban mobility experience in one of India’s largest and most dynamic cities. Participants were tasked with analyzing real-world video data from traffic and Safe City cameras provided by the BTP to solve the following problems.

In Phase 1, using historical video feeds from 23 Safe City cameras located at junctions in northern Bengaluru as training data, the participants were asked to estimate the cumulative counts of vehicles (by vehicle class and by turning pattern at the junction) in a given 30-minute video clip to the end of the clip and also predict cumulative counts of vehicles by vehicle class from the end time of the clip up to 30 minutes into the future. In Phase 2, using the same training data set, the participants were asked to identify vehicles that originally appeared in one camera and then later appeared in a different camera.

The competition was hosted on IEEE Dataport, while the prizes were sponsored by IEEE Foundation. Some of the statistics related to the hackathon are below:

A Platform for Change in Urban Mobility

The Bengaluru Mobility Challenge 2024 successfully brought together innovative minds to solve one of the most pressing challenges facing urban India today: mobility and transportation. The winners will not only receive monetary prizes, but also internship offers at IISc.

BTP Commissioner, M N Anucheth said, “We are impressed by the ingenuity and creativity demonstrated by the teams in this challenge. With Bengaluru’s traffic growing more complex by the day, these solutions offer real hope in managing congestion and improving road safety. The integration of technology and data in urban mobility has the potential to transform how we approach traffic management, and we are excited to see how these projects will develop further.”

Dr Raghuram K, Chair of the organizing committee and a Senior Scientist at CDPG, remarked, “This competition highlights the crucial role data and AI can play in transforming urban transportation. The solutions we’ve seen here are not just theoretical—they have the potential to make a real-world impact on the lives of millions of people in Bengaluru.”

The competition reflects a growing trend of leveraging data for public good, with a focus on creating sustainable, scalable solutions for smarter cities. The organizing team looks forward to further editions of the challenge, where even more ground-breaking innovations will be cultivated.

About the CDPG

The Centre of Data for Public Good (CDPG) focuses on leveraging data to address societal challenges. It serves as a hub for multidisciplinary research, bringing together experts from academia, industry, and government to harness the power of data to enhance public services and drive equitable growth. With a focus on ethical data use, privacy, and responsible AI, the centre aims to develop solutions that positively impact areas such as smart cities, agriculture, logistics, geospatial, environmental sustainability, and so on.

For more information visit – https://dataforpublicgood.org.in/

Namrata Agrawal
namrata.agrawal@datakaveri.org
Ph: 7829121121