LUCKNOW, April 8 -- The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday launched an artificial intelligence (AI)-backed pilot decongestion programme across 172 identified routes in 20 districts, with officials targeting a 20% reduction in peak-hour travel time on the most congested stretches in the first phase. The initiative, titled the City-Reducing Traffic Congestion (C-RTC) Scheme, was rolled out by the state traffic directorate under directions from chief minister Yogi Adityanath, who stressed the need for smoother, time-bound and obstruction-free movement in urban areas. Addressing a press conference in Lucknow, director general of police (DGP) Rajeev Krishna said the project aims to address mounting pressure on city roads caused by rapid urbanisation, rising vehicle density and the expansion of commercial zones. "The scheme seeks to scientifically measure and reduce congestion rather than rely solely on conventional enforcement," the director general of police said. He was accompanied by ADG (Traffic) A Satish Ganesh and ADG (Law and Order) Amitabh Yash. Officials said the pilot covers all seven police commissionerates and 13 other major districts, totaling 20 urban units. The districts include Agra, Azamgarh, Aligarh, Ayodhya, Banda, Bareilly, Gautam Buddh Nagar, Ghaziabad, Gorakhpur, Gonda, Jhansi, Kanpur, Lucknow, Mathura, Meerut, Mirzapur, Moradabad, Prayagraj, Saharanpur and Varanasi. According to the traffic directorate, these districts together account for 172 congestion-prone routes to be monitored through a route-specific intervention model. Kanpur has the highest number at 14 routes, followed by 12 each in Gautam Buddh Nagar and Lucknow. A key feature of the scheme is the "one route, one route marshal" principle, under which each identified stretch will have a dedicated route marshal, usually a traffic inspector or sub-inspector, responsible for traffic flow, bottleneck management, inter-agency coordination and on-ground enforcement. A total of 172 route marshals are being deployed. Police station heads and field officers in the concerned areas will share operational responsibility with the route marshals, officials said. The scheme is backed by an AI-based traffic analytics platform that will generate route-wise minimum, maximum and average travel time data through graphical and tabular dashboards, while also mapping congestion points in real time. Nodal officers will monitor traffic conditions through smartphones. Officials said the platform will analyse both historical and live traffic data to support targeted interventions during peak hours. The operational strategy has been designed around the 5E model-education and awareness, enforcement, engineering and technological intervention, encroachment removal, and e-rickshaw regulation. Apart from easing commuter movement, the initiative aims to reduce fuel wastage, vehicular emissions, air pollution and delays in emergency response by ambulances and fire tenders. Senior officials said the performance of all 172 routes will be centrally monitored by the traffic directorate, with a detailed review scheduled after one month....