Platform to help tackle air pollution from construction industry

Grid Smarter Cities has won an Innovate UK contract to create a platform to improve construction deliveries in cities and cut air pollution.

The company will partner with Croydon Council and EB Charging Ltd for the £485,000 project, and it’s hoped the platform will result in improved air quality in the construction industry and improve ease of movement commercial operators when heading into and around the construction site, whilst reducing congestion and the environmental impact of HGVs.

Grid is also working with a number of specialist partners to investigate the potential of vehicle telematics, 3D mapping and electric vehicles (EVs) on the future of construction logistic operations.

A pilot will go live at a development in Croydon from March 2020.

The project will build another tool created by Grid called ‘Kerb’, which allows drivers to park on restricted kerb for fixed periods of time and provide real-time, dynamic management of the road network.

Neil Herron, CEO and Founder of Grid Smarter Cities said: ‘Improving air quality is a key issue for society to address, and we are intent on being able to deliver technology that offers simple, easy to adopt process improvements to assist in construction freight logistics and the wider transport sectors.”

Cllr Stuart King, cabinet lead for environment and transport at Croydon Council, added: ‘This is an innovative project that will help us to monitor, manage and regulate HGV journeys across Croydon.

‘This will help us try and make sure deliveries arrive not only in a timely manner but even more important that the journeys are as safe and green as possible.’