Wolverhampton City Council to pilot air quality apps
Wolverhampton City Council has teamed up with air quality expert EarthSense to trial new innovative air quality apps and a web portal that can be used by both local authorities and the general public
EarthSense has secured funding for the project from Innovate UK, the UK’s innovation agency, to deliver a partnership air quality project focussed on management of both pollution emissions and exposure.
Called LiVETAP (Live Visualisation of Emissions – Towards Informed Avoidance of Pollution Hotspots), the project will also work with two universities.
For the first time, the services will enable users in Wolverhampton to see both live and forecast pollution data for city centre streets and school-run routes.
EarthSense Managing Director, Tom Hall said: “Using the information from the app, users can choose to avoid certain high pollution areas, reducing the amount of emissions inhaled, and hopefully divert traffic away from those areas, thereby reducing the levels of pollution – a positive result for everyone.”
The services will provide air quality forecasts to guide decisions on traffic management and routing in polluted environments. The services will be developed on EarthSense’s leading air quality datasets which take into account traffic pollution sources, weather conditions and government pollution monitoring sites, where they exist.
As part of the project, real-time data from air quality sensors including the EarthSense Zephyr® – which will be installed around Wolverhampton – will record levels of pollutants such as nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and fine particulate matter (PM2.5).
Coun Steve Evans, Cabinet Member for City Environment at City of Wolverhampton Council said: “Poor air quality has a direct effect on health and wellbeing. We need to protect our environment the best we can to enable positive change for the next generation. “Through this project, we will be able to gather additional data, identify pollution levels and implement measures to improve air quality. We are pleased to have been successful in this bid to make way for healthier communities and a vibrant, green city we can all be proud of.” Following the trial in Wolverhampton, future plans include making the app and online portal available for all local authorities across England.
Following the trial in Wolverhampton, future plans include making the app and online portal available for all local authorities across England.
