Siemens Mobility project uses rerouting to improve air quality in Munich

Up to 40% of drivers are willing to help reduce air pollution when provided with alternative routes on ThinxNet’s Ryd platform, says Siemens Mobility. The partners worked with air quality specialist Hawa Dawa in a four-week project in Munich to prove that intelligent traffic control can help cities become more sustainable. Siemens says initial results for more than 1,600 drivers in the German city showed savings of 83 kg of carbon dioxide and 114 g of nitrogen oxide as well as a reduction of 633km driven
February 25, 2019 Read time: 2 mins
Up to 40% of drivers are willing to help reduce air pollution when provided with alternative routes on ThinxNet’s Ryd platform, says 120 Siemens Mobility.


The partners worked with air quality specialist Hawa Dawa in a four-week project in Munich to prove that intelligent traffic control can help cities become more sustainable.

Siemens says initial results for more than 1,600 drivers in the German city showed savings of 83 kg of carbon dioxide and 114 g of nitrogen oxide as well as a reduction of 633km driven.

If the programme were to be scaled to 20,000 drivers, the savings would be the equivalent to planting more than one acre of forested land, the company suggests.

Hawa provided pollution forecasts to Siemens’ ITS digital lab in Munich, where data scientists and traffic management experts analysed the data with anonymised trip data from the smart car platform Ryd to predict individual routes and suggest ‘green’ alternatives. These routes were then provided to Ryd users via an app before they started their journeys.

Ryd users can use the app to receive information on car’s health such as fuel consumption, battery life and fuel in level in the engine.  

Drivers were incentivised to use alternative routes by participating in a competition in which they received Amazon vouchers.

Michael Peter, CEO of Siemens Mobility, says shaping connected mobility will improve the efficiency of transportation and its impact on the environment.

Karim Tarraf, Hawa Dawa’s CEO, says: “We believe eco-routing at the individual vehicle level has extremely high potential as a policy option in tackling unacceptable levels of traffic-related air pollution in cities.”

Related Content

  • Electric cars – do zero emissions add up?
    August 9, 2013
    Buying an electric car may seem to be the green option when the energy label states Zero CO2 emissions. But that’s not the whole story when you factor in the electricity required to charge the batteries, and associated CO2 emissions created in electricity generation; the green benefits then become less clear. According to Vehicle Certification Agency (VCA), the latest Renault Clio 4, dCi 90 ECO, emits 83 grams of CO2 per kilometre travelled. In comparison the Electric Nissan Leaf, requires 173 Watts of elec
    Read More
  • Cost benefit: Toronto retimings tame traffic trauma
    July 19, 2018
    Canada’s largest city reckons that it is saving its taxpayers’ money simply by altering the way traffic lights work. David Crawford reviews Toronto’s ambitious plans to ease congestion Toronto, Canada’s largest metropolis (and the fourth largest in North America), has saved its residents CAN$53 (US$42.4) for every CAN$1 (US$0.80) spent over a 2012-2016 traffic signal retiming programme, according to figures released by its Transportation Services Division. The programme covered 1,275 signals (the city’s
    Read More
  • HERMES Study provides guidance for forward ITS thinking in Finland
    August 25, 2016
    Having authored HERMES, a major study for the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communication, Josef Czako talks to ITS International about his findings and lessons for other authorities. When CEOs of major automakers are predicting more change in the next five years than in the past 50, what is the role of national authorities considering the benefits of innovations in ITS?
    Read More
  • Smarter mapping makes for more informed decisions
    December 2, 2016
    Following his keynote presentation at the 2016 ITS World Congress in Melbourne, ITS International caught up with Esri founder Jack Dangermond. It is getting close to half a century ago that Jack Dangermond and his wife Laura founded the Environmental Research Systems Institute – known today as Esri - of which he remains president.
    Read More

Highlighted Content