EarthSense, the air quality specialist is providing the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority with Zephyr® air quality monitors which will enable authorities to manage traffic and work towards a safer environment for those living in Liverpool.
EarthSense distributor, Yunex Traffic (formerly Siemens Mobility), will install air quality monitors around the Liverpool City Region to measure levels of harmful gases and particulate matter. Measurements will be used to reduce congestion and protect nearby communities from the implications of air pollution exposure.
The pollution monitors are set to be installed by Spring 2022 to help the city deliver net zero by 2040, a decade ahead of national targets. They will be installed on to traffic lights on 37 important corridors, including the Strand, Dunnings Bridge Road and the Bridgewater Expressway, which are located on major routes in Halton, Knowsley, Sefton, St Helens, and Wirral.
Local authorities in the Liverpool City Region will use the Zephyr® monitors to access to live concentrations of pollution levels throughout key roads. Measurements will be integrated with urban traffic control systems and signals to help manage traffic and avoid congestion by diverting motorists away from pollution-heavy locations when high concentrations are met.
The Zephyr® is a small form air quality monitor which provides real time measurements for various air pollutants emitted into local ambient air to highlight pollution episodes, sources, and trends. Available as either mobile or static units, the monitors use an active sampling mechanism to take live readings of the available air. Measurements are sent back to the EarthSense MyAir® web application or can be integrated with systems such as Yunex Stratos Traffic Management via an API.
Tom Hall, Managing Director at EarthSense said: “Working towards a safer climate and clean air is more important than ever, so air quality monitoring is needed to evidence how well strategies, such as rerouting traffic, are working to reduce pollution levels.” “Deploying Zephyr® monitors across the Liverpool City Region means that authorities receive evidence about how well their traffic management is working to reduce emissions.”
Hall continues: “By using data to drive decisions about traffic management, the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority will improve the health and wellbeing of thousands living in the city, as reduced exposure means less severe cardiovascular and respiratory symptoms and an improved climate for the world.”
Wilke Reints, Managing Director of Yunex Traffic in the UK said: “Poor air quality in towns and cities is an ever-increasing problem with road transport contributing significantly to urban pollution. To fully understand the impact and introduce meaningful interventions, pollution levels must be constantly monitored which can only be done through intelligent road infrastructure.
“The sensors not only monitor air quality levels but give local authorities the ability to adjust their local transportation strategies in a way that less pollution will be generated. This innovative technology will help Liverpool City Region to deliver a greener transport network and ultimately improve the health and wellbeing of local people. We’re really pleased to work in partnership with the team to help achieve this,” continued Reints.
Liverpool City Region is also working on other projects to build alternative methods of transport to provide the general public with other sustainable alternatives to cars, including greener trains, hydrogen-powered and zero emission buses and a cheap, reliable, and quick London-style transport network.