Environmentally friendly private hire service, Greentomatocars, has joined forces with Drayson Technologies to create a mobile Internet of Things (IoT) sensor network that maps out hyper-local air pollution.
Drayson Technologies, a healthcare IoT company, founded by the electric car land speed record holder and former UK government science minister, Lord Paul Drayson, will install its CleanSpace Tag air pollution sensors into Greentomatocars’ environmentally friendly vehicles in London.
As the cars travel their daily routes, the CleanSpace Tags, powered by radio frequency (RF) signals, will collect air quality data, which will feed into the CleanSpace environmental monitoring network to map out levels of pollution in the city.
Pollution poses problems
London breached its annual air pollution limit within just 5 days this year, leading Mayor of London Sadiq Khan to declare London’s toxic air a “public health emergency”, just days before issuing a ‘black alert’ for air pollution levels in the city.
City Hall has also recently taken steps to address London’s air pollution issue with the launch of an ultra-low emission zone in London from April 2019.
The Mayor will presumably welcome the work of Drayson, which has vast experience in mapping air pollution levels across cities. The company is already working with bicycle courier company Gophr to track air quality levels on popular cycle routes in London, and late last year, Drayson announced a partnership with taxi and ride-sharing app Uber in Mexico.
Greentomatocars brings its own experience to the mix, too. It claims its company values are rooted in environmental sustainability. Together, the companies hope to help address the rising pollution levels in the capital, by “better equipping businesses and the public with the information they need to understand air pollution levels”.
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Helping Londoners lead healthier lives
Greentomatocars drivers will be using the sensors daily and the company will be passing on air pollution data to its customers. The company also aims to identify vulnerable locations for air pollution exposure, such as hospitals and schools. Once detected, Greentomatocars will issue its drivers with best practice guidelines for travelling through these areas, such as switching to electric mode where possible.
Commenting on the deal, Lord Drayson said his aim is to strengthen the CleanSpace environmental monitoring network. This, he said, would help Drayson “to better understand how air pollution impacts people’s health and in turn help Londoners lead healthier lives.”
The data from the vehicles will feed into the CleanSpace network, providing hyper-local air pollution information that is viewable to Londoners through the CleanSpace Air Map. Greentomatocars will also access the air pollution data its vehicles collect through the CleanSpace Enterprise Dashboard.
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