IoT Sensors Begin European Vehicle Congestion Count

Paul Myles

TU-Editor

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21st January 2020

A collaborative move with residents to use IoT connected sensors to count cars has been announced for five European cities in a bid to cut pollution.

Sensors made by Raspberry Pi will be installed on busy urban roads in Madrid in Spain, Dublin in Eire, Cardiff in Wales, Ljubljana in Slovenia and Leuven in Belgium. The scheme is part of the European Commission backed Horizon 2020 research program aimed at exploring sustainable economic growth.

The wifi enabled sensors will not only track potential congestion zones but also cyclists and even pedestrians, sending the data to participant residents to collate for the project’s technical experts. Data will also be uploaded onto the Cloud as an open source for everyone to see and use in their own traffic movement models.

Scientists hope the data will help us understand traffic movements better and go towards reducing congestion the prime reason for spikes in pollution in urban areas. As the BBC reports Prof Enda Hayes of the University of the West of England is helping run the survey and said: “We will be targeting certain areas but also asking for people to volunteer to have sensors in their homes. Our data will be uploaded to the cloud so it can be seen by anyone, be that private citizens, the local council or NGOs The evidence can be used in a number of initiatives relating to things like speed, noise, air pollution, safety and active travel. Hopefully it will place citizens in the center of the debates on these issues.”

— Paul Myles is a seasoned automotive journalist based in London. Follow him on Twitter @Paulmyles_