A new computer-based data collection system is being tested in Detroit to gather information about air pollution caused by diesel-fueled trucks driving through residential neighborhoods.
A coalition of grassroots organizations in Detroit, called Trucks Off Our Street (TOOS), has been working on a dashboard project to collect data on how many trucks drive through residential neighborhoods and their impact on air pollution. These organizations include Southwest Detroit Environmental Vision, the Southwest Detroit Community Benefits Coalition and JustAir.
After receiving a grant from the University of Michigan, JustAir recently began testing a prototype for a computer visualization system to collect this data. By using cameras and air quality monitors, it has built an app that will synthesize this data into graphs, aiming to show a correlation between the number of trucks and the air quality levels.
Sarah Craft, the Chief Operating Officer at JustAir, said that before this software was created, the data was collected by volunteers hand-counting trucks that passed on the street.
“(The models) are a lot better and they're a lot more accurate than sitting there and counting or having to get volunteers,” she said.
The partners of TOOS are currently testing the dashboard prototype. Craft said she hopes the data will help to create policy changes regarding truck routes.
“We need to reroute the truck traffic and actually change ordinances and codes in the local government,” she said. “Community leaders and organizers can advocate for the change, but it's often policymakers who can make those changes. Data can inform decisions for the council.”
Although the model is still a prototype, Craft said she hopes TOOS will be able to expand the data collection into more Detroit neighborhoods.
“The good news is that it looks like this project is going to be expanded by another grant the state is receiving this fall. And so we hope to make the technology even more accessible to communities that want to use it,” she said.
TOOS said they plan to launch a public website that will show all of the data collected from the dashboard, according to a press release.
“Environmental justice leaders have been advocating for getting trucks off our community streets for a really long time, and it hasn't happened yet,” Craft said. “Having more data is important to inform these policymaking decisions. The environmental changes we can make can help direct resources and energy to these high-priority areas so that people can stay safer.”
