Artificial intelligence can optimize Bengaluru’s bus network, but the bigger challenge remains management

Ashwin Mahesh, founder of the LVBL Accelerator, said Bengaluru’s concentration of jobs in several areas and the high cost of housing make concepts like the “15-minute city” difficult to implement without changes in employment and housing. | Photo credit: MURALI KUMAR K.

Artificial intelligence can help optimize Bengaluru’s public transport network, from designing bus routes to tailoring services based on passenger demand, but effective management and implementation remain bigger challenges, experts said at the Mobility Symposium 2026 organized by MoveInSync on Thursday.

Sreenivas Bhandari, vice president of transit, ONDC, said artificial intelligence could allow public transport agencies to move away from fixed timetables and make services more responsive to demand. For example, passenger movement data could help determine how often buses should run on specific routes and coordinate feeders with subway demand.

According to him, open data, common standards and application programming interfaces (APIs) are essential for the integration of different modes of transport. With bus, metro and other mobility data available through a common digital framework, commuters can potentially use a single app to plan, book, track and complete their entire trip.

However, Ashwin Mahesh, founder of LVBL Accelerator, emphasized that technology alone will not solve Bengaluru’s mobility problems. “AI could quickly identify optimal routes and improve bus network design, but governments needed the institutional capacity, planning systems and trained staff to implement such solutions,” he said.

He also pointed to the broader challenge of urban planning, noting that Bengaluru’s concentration of jobs in a few areas and high housing costs make concepts like the “15-minute city” difficult to implement without changes in employment and housing.

Nikhil Maroli, co-founder and director of RoadMetrics, said: “Computer vision and artificial intelligence could be used to identify defects in roads, footpaths and lane markings from road images, helping authorities monitor infrastructure and plan maintenance.”

Published – 8 Oct 2026 22:32 IST