Objectives

The main objective of the project is to implement a demonstrative system for the municipal mobility management centre of the city of Bolzano capable of providing a detailed and integrated assessment of the real-time traffic and environmental conditions, the latter ones to be intended both in terms of air pollution levels and greenhouse gas emissions.

In order to achieve this, the INTEGREEN system integrates data gathered by both fixed monitoring stations and mobile measuring probes to be installed on board of existing vehicles, such as public transport buses or car sharing cars. Data feed on a real-time basis a modelling chain, which is able to automatically estimate the current traffic levels, the emissions generated by urban traffic and the dispersion of pollutants in the air.

Thanks to the INTEGREEN system, traffic managers are in the conditions to test and validate specific eco-friendly traffic policies, such as the introduction of speed enforcement detectors, the dynamic and adaptive control of traffic lights cycles, and the sharing of specific real-time travel information to local travelers. The environmental education of all mobility participants, in particular occasional ones, through targeted awareness-raising initiatives is a key element of the project, in order to maximize the level of acceptance of the developed solutions.

The INTEGREEN project aims to provide an important contribution at European level as well. This development is not only a direct implementation of the existing EU directives, e.g. Directive 2008/50/EC on ambient air quality and cleaner air for Europe: the results of the project can lead to a further development of the existing EU policies with a promotion of new integrated approaches for the joint management of traffic and environmental conditions in urban areas.

The INTEGREEN initiative aims finally to become a reference experience for other interested stakeholders, which might replicate it in other urban (and non-urban) areas thanks to the comprehensive toolkit of documentation, tools and guidelines which the project has made publicly available.