Ángel López and Loha Hashimy, Barcelona City Council and FACTUAL: finding high-polluting vehicles with DAVER

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We're back at the Kurrant booth
and I'm here with Ángel López.

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He is the General Coordinator of
Mobility Services at the Barcelona

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City Council and Loha Hashimy, FACTUAL
Mobility Innovation Specialist.

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Welcome, first of all.

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And we're going to be
discussing the DAVER project,

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which is to identify
high-polluting vehicles.

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The first question, Ángel,
is DAVER aims to identify

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individual vehicles causing
excessive pollution and noise.

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So what's missing from
the way European cities

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currently monitor and
manage traffic emissions?

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Well, from years ago that
we realized that a part of

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the vehicles in the city is
polluting more than others.

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It's not only a fact in
the age of the vehicle nor

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on the Euro standard, but
also is more about the

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maintenance or problems
in a particular vehicle.

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From 2018, we are checking
this kind of

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solutions on roadside devices
that allows us to know what is

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the emissions, not emissions,
but emissions of vehicles.

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And we arise that we need to
take some actions on that.

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And that is for that we promote
with FACTUAL and Opus RSD a

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project to make more formal
this kind of enforcement or

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this kind of taking data from
real emissions from vehicles.

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And then let's get into the technical.

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Loha, DAVER combines gas sensors,

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acoustic cameras, and
vehicle identification.

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What can it detect that
traditional monitoring can't,

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and how accurately can it
identify high-polluting vehicles?

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As Ángel mentioned, most of the
cities are at— they've already taken

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really good actions when it comes
to measurement of pollution.

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But these measurements, in most cases,
they give an overview of the city,

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the pollutants in the city,
not actually which individual

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vehicles are polluting more or less,
or what is the exact measurement

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of pollution for each one of the
vehicles or types of vehicles.

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Because not just cars,
but also motorcycles and

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and other types
of vehicles that projects

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such as DAVER can measure
their pollution exactly at real

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time with real traffic
into consideration.

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And the 3 layers that you were
actually mentioning, DAVER combines

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sensors which measure the emission
of the individual vehicle,

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that is through infrared as well
as ultraviolet spectroscopy.

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But also the cameras, the acoustic
camera, they measure the noise.

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And then the last one
is this algorithm

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that Opus has developed, which
automatically actually does this

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matching of— it reads the
number plate of the vehicle and

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then does the matching of
the type of the vehicle with

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the type of emission that it
should— it should usually—

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or the average of emission
that usually generates,

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and then flags whether it's
emitting more or emitting less.

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So what is the end goal of it?

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Is it to improve low emission zones?

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Is it to have different
zones where you

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can't go in with that type of vehicle?

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What is it?

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We have no way to know which
are the high-emitter vehicles.

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Air quality is clear that is
one of the worst things that is

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making death in cities.

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And we realize that it's not a
match in what we are measuring

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in the— when you breathe,
the emissions, and what the

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emissions of vehicles, the
theoretical emissions of vehicles.

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And why?

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Because some vehicles, many vehicles,

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we say 3-4% of the vehicles
are polluting a lot.

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So we need a technology
that can accurately

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measure that on the trip, so online.

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Then we need a regulation
that allows that.

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to be forced and also to be
convinced that that is a way.

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First, as you say, to communicate,
to try to convince people to

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have a good maintenance of the
vehicle, not to modify the vehicle.

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If we don't have this kind of
tools, we need to make some of these

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low emissions zones where we are
banning vehicles just for the age.

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An old vehicle

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is bad, a new vehicle is good.

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Maybe not.

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Maybe some new vehicles are tampered,
are modified, are not well maintained,

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and are polluting more than an
old vehicle very well maintained.

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Okay, and Loha, DAVER is
being tested in 3 cities.

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What have been the findings so
far, and have you seen if the

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polluting vehicles are different
in the different cities?

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One of the— we're on the
way actually to the lessons

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learned because we are still
piloting in these cities.

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But one of the things we
learned early on in the project

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is that the needs of the
cities are quite different.

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Some cities are more
advanced, such as Barcelona,

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when it comes to measurement
of the pollutions.

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And emissions, but some other
cities are less advanced.

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In Barcelona, we have
got zero emission zones,

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we have got labels around
environmental labels for vehicles,

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but we also actually, we are using
the sensing systems and really

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advanced sensing system in
order to measure emissions.

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But some, in some other cities, we
still don't have those technologies

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deployed and the stage of deployment
is so different that in some cities

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systems such as DAVER they are
useful more for deployment of the

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plans that already cities have in
mind in order to go one step further.

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It's not just actually I'm
planning and I'm deciding

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which areas, for example,
these polluting vehicles

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can enter and which
areas they cannot enter.

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It is rather I'm now targeting
specific vehicles,

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not by type, a specific actually
vehicle with number plate,

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individual vehicle, and probably I'm
sanctioning those vehicles, right?

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But in some other cities,
still they don't have tools

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even to plan actually
how to measure emissions.

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Then we have got 3 types of actually
systems right now piloted in DAVER

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One is fixed, one is semi-fixed,

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and another one is completely
dynamic or flexible.

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And that is based on
the needs of the city.

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But then in cities such as Groningen,

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we have installed a fixed system
that is measuring long-term

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in a specific area, in a
specific street highway.

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Measuring the emission of the vehicles

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that passes or crosses that highway.

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In Thessaloniki, we
have got a flexible.

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In Barcelona, we have
got a semi-fixed.

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Remember that DAVER is a project
funded by EIT Urban Mobility,

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and we need finally
to have a framework

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where this kind of products
could be commercialized.

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I'm insisting always that
we have 3 different cities

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with 3 different probable
ways to buy the system.

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Groningen in one extreme will
be city buys the equipment and

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maintains the equipment and exploits
the result of the equipment.

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In the case of Thessaloniki, only are

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interested in the data,
not in the equipment.

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So the equipment is rented.

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We are trying an
intermediate possibility

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to assess the procurement
of other cities.

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That is the case— in the case that
the equipment is so expensive,

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we will put some fixed
places without the equipment.

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And we buy some, many
equipments, 6, 8 equipments,

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and we will move the equipment
inside these cabinets.

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And then in terms of decision-making,
what is— because obviously

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the end goal of any smart
city tech is that we have then

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informed decisions to improve
services, improve life quality.

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What are some of those
decisions that might take place?

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I think DAVER is exactly trying to
address what you're saying in

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in sense that it is not just
measuring the pollution,

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but it's helping cities actually
to take better decisions,

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decisions that are benefiting
the citizens, the society.

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So systems such as DAVER they
can also help the cities in

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order to first identify which
vehicles are emitting more,

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but hopefully come up with
ways in order to limit the

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use of those vehicles, so to
improve the health of the society,

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because we know already,
as Ángel was saying,

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that pollution is one of the
major causes of death in cities.

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So DAVER is also kind of
promoting fairness in the sense

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that now you actually are
penalized for your actions.

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It's either tampering your
vehicle or not maintaining it

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properly or having a specific type
of vehicle that is emitting much,

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much, much more than—
we are talking about

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98% or 97% more than any other
type of vehicle in the city.

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And now we are only considering the
theoretical emissions from vehicles,

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and we are taking decisions like,
like these low emission zones.

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For example, in 2028, what is
provided by the regulation of

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Generalitat de Catalunya, more or
less 18% of the vehicles,

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so the B vehicles with the
yellow label, will be banned.

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With these technologies,
with 3% of vehicles,

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not only B label but also C label,
we will have the same effect.

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So to take the decision who
must be banned in the city,

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how we apply the low emission
zone, we need real data.

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And this real data comes
from roadside devices.

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Do you think because the goal
is to have it go to market,

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have the solution go to
market, so could remote vehicle

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emissions monitoring become
standard smart city infrastructure?

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Is that the goal?

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I don't know what is the
path to achieve this finally

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commercialization of the
technology, but it's clear that

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in the Roadworthiness
Package, where the European

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Commission is trying to improve
the control of vehicles in

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the laboratory, in the ITV,
but also is allowing

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the case of the controlled
emissions from on the route.

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And is there where this kind of
technologies can have a solution.

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After that is approved, we hope
that that could be one year,

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then all the states must translate
that in the own regulation.

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And after that is in cities where
we can do something like to send

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this letter or maybe to enforce,
maybe to ban, or maybe to fine.

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For us, the technology is proved.

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It's not only Opus RSD,
there is other providers.

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So finally, the market in
Europe will have several choices

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with the same idea, to know
what is the real emissions of vehicles

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and to select who of them
are high emitters

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And definitely regulation
is going to be an enabler,

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one of the main enablers of these
technologies to be used in the cities.

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But also at local level, I
think we need to promote it

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further and we have to have
discussions at national and

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local level in order to raise
awareness of cities and also

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policymakers about these new
technologies and how these

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technologies can help them
to take better decisions and

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also come up with new enforcement
systems that are more fair,

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much more sustainable when
it comes to environment.

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Okay, well, thank you so
much for the conversation.

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Thank you.