How clean is the air on your street? And which parts of the city get especially hot on summer days? Four electric buses operated by Rotterdam's public transport company RET are helping researchers find answers. Since September, the first buses equipped with sensors have been collecting data on air quality and temperature across Rotterdam. It's the first project of its kind in the Netherlands.
Air quality and temperature can vary considerably from one street to another. Yet these local differences are not always captured by existing monitoring systems. Fixed monitoring stations provide highly accurate measurements, but only at specific locations. For other parts of the city, researchers rely on calculations and models.
Monitoring stations are also unevenly distributed across urban areas. Recent research shows that some neighbourhoods are consequently less well represented in environmental monitoring data than others.
'By placing sensors on buses, we can measure more fairly and in more locations. This gives us a better picture of what Rotterdam residents breathe and experience on the streets every day.'
Titus Venverloo
AMS Institute, MIT Senseable City Lab en TU Delft
Measuring air quality at street level
The In-Transit research project aims to address this gap. By installing sensors on RET buses, researchers can collect measurements across a much larger area of Rotterdam. The buses follow regular routes through different neighbourhoods, gathering new data throughout the day.
'By placing sensors on buses, we can measure more fairly and in more locations. This gives us a better picture of what Rotterdam residents breathe and experience on the streets every day,' says researcher Titus Venverloo (AMS Institute, MIT Senseable City Lab, and TU Delft).
During the initial pilot phase, four electric buses have been equipped with sensors that continuously measure pollutants, including fine particulate matter (PM2.5) and carbon monoxide (CO), as well as temperature and humidity. The data can help researchers identify areas with higher levels of air pollution or an increased risk of heat stress.
Turning measurements into action
The researchers are also testing how well the sensors perform in real-world conditions, including different weather conditions. The initial measurements will help them refine and improve the system.
In the future, municipalities could use the data to gain a more detailed understanding of air pollution and heat exposure across neighbourhoods. The measurements could also help assess the effects of traffic measures and identify areas where additional protection against heat and air pollution may be needed.
Although the pilot takes place in Rotterdam, the technology could also be used in other Dutch cities, including Amsterdam, The Hague and Utrecht. The researchers also aim to make the collected data publicly available, allowing residents to explore what is being measured and where.
About the research
In-Transit is a joint research project involving TU Delft (Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment), AMS Institute, Erasmus University Rotterdam (Institute for Housing and Urban Development Studies), MIT Senseable City Lab and RET. The project is supported by the Resilient Delta initiative, a collaboration between TU Delft, Erasmus University Rotterdam and Erasmus MC.
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For questions, more information or press inquiries, please reach out directly to researchers Titus Venverloo (tvenver@mit.edu) or Alexander Los (los@ihs.nl), or get in touch with science communicator Laura van Gelder (laura.vangelder@eur.nl).
Within Resilient Delta we work in an interdisciplinary way in the academic field, collaborating with societal partners to design resilience solutions in the real-world dynamics of our living lab, the Rotterdam delta. More on Resilient Delta.
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