WM-Air - Using Driving Data to Improve Pollution Levels in Our Cities

Article written by Sam Chapman

At The Floow, we recognise that our fine-grained understanding of driver behaviour and wealth of anonymised vehicle data can be used to provide unique insights which positively affect a number of areas of mobility from insurance to road infrastructures and pollution.

As a result, we have been involved in a number of research projects over the years to help make improvements to current systems or prepare for the introduction of new technologies to our roads, such as autonomous vehicles.

Last year, we became involved in the West Midlands Air Quality Improvement Programme (WM-Air) - a multi-year project which is set to run until 2023. The project, which is coordinated by the University of Birmingham, is designed to support the improvement of air quality and its associated health, economic and environmental benefits in the West Midlands.

WM-Air: Working to Improve Air Quality in the West Midlands

Each year, over seven million people across the world die from air pollution, 34,000 people are estimated to die early in the UK as a result of air pollution and 91% of the world’s population live in places where outdoor air pollution levels exceed WHO guideline limits.

Researchers at the University of Birmingham, alongside other WM-Air project partners, are working to identify the wide-ranging causes and effects of air pollution so this can be applied to global public policy with the aim to develop Clean Air solutions for countries such asIndia and China, as well as regions across the UK.

The WM-Air project is focusing on three broad themes:

• Situational awareness - to understand air pollution levels and sources. The project aims to provide new estimations and measurements of air pollutant levels and quantify pollution sources by sector, including precise quantification of on-road vehicle emissions

• Predictive capability - to develop and evaluate air quality policy options.The project will provide new capacity to predict future air quality levels and how these respond to potential policy options. The project will also evaluate the air quality driven health and economic benefits and impacts of such predictions within the region

• Application - to support the application of specific policy scenarios. The project will help to support existing policy actions surrounding air quality and build the air quality expert base in the region

WM-Air is addressing the UK Industrial Strategy GrandChallenge of Clean Growth, which is committed to creating a future where our cities benefit from cleaner air, as well as the Infrastructure Foundation of Productivity, which has identified the significant negative impact of air pollution on public health, the economy and the environment.

A study with this level of detail over such a wide area has never been done before and it has the potential to impact on policy making both in, and beyond, this large region. The key beneficiaries of WM-Air will be the people in the West Midlands but the insights which are discovered through this project will have impacts on the wider population.

The Floow’s Involvement in the WM-Air Project

One of the areas this project focuses on surrounds investigating the long-term effects of pollution across the West Midlands area to see how pollution is changing based on evolving vehicle technologies and changing driver behaviours. The Floow’s involvement in this project focuses on this area of vehicle pollution and emissions from the tailpipe as well as wear of brakes and tyres.

We are making use of our understanding of mass anonymised driver behaviour on particular sectors of road to better understand pollution and driver behaviour trends in the West Midlands area. By analysing this data, it will allow us to see where driving behaviours alter as a result of the launch and implementation of measures and initiatives which are aimed at reducing pollution, as well as understanding the impact these measures are having on pollution outputs in the area.

Our data is being used as the key input for modelling emissions from vehicles, which are the biggest contributor to Nitrogen Oxide variants (NOx) and particulate matter in urban centres. All of this data will be used to produce a detailed map of emissions from the entire road network in the West Midlands over a four year period. This map will be extremely useful to help councils and local authorities to plan changes to the road infrastructure to help influence more ecologically-friendly driving in the region.

Working Together to Improve Pollution Levels in the West Midlands

This WM-Air project coincides with the introduction of local Clean Air Zones (CAZ), city areas where the passage of vehicles is reduced or banned. The WM-Air project partners will assess the CAZ situated onBirmingham’s ring road which is due to launch in 2021 and they will be monitoring behaviour changes before, during and after implementation of the CAZ.

The area should significantly reduce thoroughfare traffic from the city, with the aim that only vehicles entering the CAZ, are those specifically needing to enter the city centre. This should have an impact on stop/start behaviour and reduce the number of stops being made by vehicles in that area. With fewer stops being made, this should lead to a reduction in emissions being produced in the area which will positively affect localised air quality.

Many other cities across the UK, including Leeds and Portsmouth, are also being encouraged to implement CAZ initiatives to help reduce high pollution levels in their cities. The outcomes of this study which is monitoring the effectiveness of the Birmingham CAZ will provide insights into the effectiveness of these mitigation initiatives in reducing air pollution, to judge how they can be rolled out or adapted to maximise positive societal impacts.

Vehicles driving through Leeds city centre

Wider Impacts of this Project

With over eight years experience analysing telematics data and working on a number of future-focused projects, including some aimed at reducing pollution levels, we know that aggressive driving behaviours - such as harsh braking and acceleration - are not only dangerous but that they emit much higher levels of pollution than driving more smoothly.

This unique knowledge allows us to make informed recommendations which will not only have a positive impact on the levels of pollution in a specific area, but will also help to curb dangerous braking and deceleration events which impact a driver’s risk profile and the amount of risk on an insurer’s book.

This information can inform our scoring and is reflected through our driver engagement initiatives such as in-app journey feedback and our driver coaching programme, FloowCoach, which uses behavioural change techniques to positively impact a driver’s behaviour behind the wheel and nudge them towards making better decisions whilst driving.

As mobility continues to change and fewer people choose to drive, particularly younger drivers, for reasons including vehicle and insurance costs, environmental concerns and living in highly populated areas with good public transport connections, it will become ever more important for insurers to truly understand driver behaviour.

This understanding will provide insurers with the opportunity to help drivers achieve more value from their motor insurance or save money on their premium, by not only helping them become safer behind the wheel, but by also encouraging more eco-friendly driving practices such as using less fuel, switching to electric vehicles and reducing vehicle wear and tear through smoother driving practices.

The data which will be processed over the course of the project will form an evidence base to inform policies in government departments including the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the Department for Transport (DfT) to lower pollution levels in cities across the UK. The decisions which these departments make will have a knock-on effect on mobility across the UK, not only for drivers, but also for insurers, motor manufacturers and other organisations involved in mobility.

The work that we are involved in on the WM-Air project is not only having a positive impact on cities by making them cleaner and greener, but it is also making roads safer and smarter as well - which is beneficial for insurers, local authorities and all road users alike.

To find out more about the WM-Air project, visit the University of Birmingham’s website or check out the blog which we wrote about our involvement in the project back in April 2019.