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

  • Bristol to test new green bus technology
    January 9, 2015
    The city of Bristol in the UK is to pilot the latest green technology for buses thanks to a US$1.5 million grant from the Government to coincide with the city’s year as European Green Capital. Baroness Kramer, minister of State for Transport, announced today that Bristol will receive funding to purchase a number of new hybrid buses which can switch from diesel to electric automatically in low emission zones. The grant from the green bus fund will be used to purchase a number of hybrid buses with geo-f
    Read More
  • Will mobile apps kick-start mobility pricing?
    January 5, 2016
    Thomas Hallauer from Ptolemus believes trials of connected road charging services will show the pay per mile concept will go much further than previously thought. Drivers are progressively becoming directly connected to the transport infrastructure and while the methods are changing, the innovation is really in the models rather than the technology.
    Read More
  • Joining the dots: four ways to help cities make the connection
    May 18, 2018
    Smoothing the path to connected transportation systems in urban areas all round the world takes a lot of planning: Cisco’s Kyle Connor lays out the four key areas on which he thinks cities should focus. Forward-thinking cities around the world are exploring innovative, new ways to leverage the Internet of Things (IoT) and related technologies to create more connected and efficient transportation systems. Through greater digitisation and connectivity, cities can optimise public transit routes, reduce
    Read More
  • Florida’s Altamonte Springs uses Uber pilot program with Uber to expand transportation coverage
    April 5, 2017
    To Uber or Not to Uber, that is the question cities must answer as they consider the pros and cons of inviting private transportation service providers to fill transportation gaps. Back in 1999, Frank Martz, city manager of Altamonte Springs, Florida, had an idea to expand transportation services to areas not covered by the local bus company.
    Read More

Highlighted Content