Bradford trials innovative air quality monitoring units
Bradford city centre is one of the first areas in the UK to trial monitoring air quality from InLink digital street units.
Air quality data is collected every minute from modular sensors integrated into a number of the InLinks recently installed in Bradford.
Data is then available in real time via BT’s data hub for Bradford Council’s Health and Wellbeing department, helping to guide initiatives to reduce air pollution in the area.
InLinkUK from BT is a state-of-the-art digital ‘hub’ that replaces traditional payphones on the streets of Bradford and across the UK.
The InLink units provide a range of free digital services to the local community including free ultrafast Wi-Fi, free phone calls, free mobile device charge, community news and easy access to the emergency services.
Using the InLinks for air quality sensing avoids the need for additional street clutter, with the ultrafast Wi-Fi providing a reliable way to transmit the information in real time.
This monitoring will complement the council’s existing air quality monitoring network of seven real time monitors and 80 nitrogen dioxide tubes.
Cllr Sarah Ferriby, Bradford Council’s executive member for healthy people and places, said: “This is a great way for us to get real time useful data from units that are already placed in the city centre. We all need to understand and take responsibility for the implications air pollution has not only on the environment but also how it affects our health, especially children, the elderly and people with heart and lung problems. Being able to use this data from the city centre will add to the number of initiatives we already have in place to tackle air pollution and improve air quality.”
Neil Scoresby, general manager payphones and InLinkUK, added: “We are excited to utilise InLinks to help Bradford Council to monitor air pollution in their local community.
“By collecting air quality data at multiple points and more often, it is possible for Bradford Council to gain a much better understanding of air pollution in real time via the BT data hub. This helps to inform the council’s improvement actions and wider clean air initiatives.”
Other cities are set to benefit from the air quality measuring features in the coming months.
InLinkUK is a London-based tech start up, working in partnership with BT on the removal of a large number of existing payphones, and installation of a smaller number of InLinks, that provide communities with a range of free digital services.
InLinkUK was created through a joint venture between Intersection, the urban innovation company behind LinkNYC, and Primesight, a leading UK out-of-home media company.
