How can vehicle data be used to improve air quality in cities?

In September 2021, Ricardo announced that it was awarded funding from the Geospatial Commission in partnership with Innovate UK to demonstrate the benefits that transport location data can have on urban air quality.

Electrification will improve urban air quality, but we need solutions for vehicles that are on the road now. Ricardo’s Optimising Geofencing project is using transport location data to intelligently use hybrid vehicles in sensitive areas of towns and cities. Our suite of solutions will enable repaid improvements in air quality now, making our towns and cities cleaner and healthier places to live.

We’re improving geofenced bus fleets to have more flexible zones which consider changes in the route and traffic conditions, reducing emissions without degrading the battery life.

Working with Brighton & Hove Buses, the UK's first zero-emimissions capable geofenced fleet, the project focuses on optimising the fleet so that it can use flexble ultra-low emissions zones. These zones vary based on the route topology, the traffic conditions and the passenger loading. Recent results have demonstrated a 30% improvement in the effectiveness of geofencing to improve air quality and a 7% fuel consumption improvement.

Recently, Josh Dalby, Chief Engineer – Research and Development, spoke with the Geospatial Commission about the Optimising Geofencing project. He gives an insight into the aims of the programme and some of the benefits that we are already seeing from the implementation of the technology.

Read the Geospatial Commision's blog here: https://geospatialcommission.blog.gov.uk/2022/03/17/how-using-transport-location-data-can-improve-air-quality/