"The city of Bangalore, India, has over 200,000 three-wheel auto rickshaws—short-distance, open taxis that provide critical transportation in a metropolis of more than 13 million (2023) and a limited two-line metro rail system covering only 74 kilometers.

Efficiently ferrying both people and goods, these simple rickshaws challenge the urban environment. Their entrepreneurial drivers cruise the edges of the streets eagerly soliciting passengers, choking traffic, and adding smog to an already congested city. Meanwhile, frustrated businesspeople, merchants, and families await rides in other locations without an available auto rickshaw in sight.

Smooth Solution
When the commissioner of traffic police approached Padmasree Harish, an entrepreneur and self-taught web designer, to build a software system that would connect available auto rickshaws with waiting passengers, Harish saw both a natural answer to her city's problem as well as a good business opportunity."