London’s new airTEXT air pollution alert service will be formally launched in The London Living Room, City Hall on March 28th, 2007. The service will provide up to 5,000 Londoners with SMS, voicemail or email alerts when elevated levels of pollution are forecast for London. Over the following 2 years the system will be evaluated to test it’s effectiveness and a decisions on whether to continue the service will be made in 2009. Forecasts and user registration will begin in March.

airTEXT is a service for Londoners with health problems affected by air pollution. Ideal for people with asthma, COPD and other illnesses, airTEXT will alert by email, SMS or voicemail a day head when elevated air pollution is expected. A prototype service has been operating in Croydon since May 2005, and this will be extended to cover all of London in 2007, with the GLA and 20 London authorities and agencies co-operating to deliver the service. The system was devised and implemented by scientists at CERC.

 

 

PROMOTE has now funded the extension of the YourAir service for the whole of Greater London and has also funded a two-year pilot to extend airTEXT to 5,000 users across 21 London boroughs and Slough Borough Council.  This service will work in a similar way to the Croydon scheme, except that we have yet to finalise whether all boroughs will offer voice-based alerts (this costs considerably more than SMS although it is very popular with the older users).  Because air pollution varies a lot between inner and outer London, airTEXT for London will also offer users a choice of which part of London they would like to receive the alert for.  So, someone who commutes in to the City from the suburbs may prefer an alert for central London where pollution levels may be worse, rather than one based on their home address.  Finally, airTEXT will offer users a choice of receiving the alert the evening before a higher pollution day (which is currently the only option) or on the actual morning of the higher pollution day.  Research we have done suggests that some users like more time to prepare their day ahead whilst others would respond better to a more immediate alert.

 

The consortium partners in airTEXT are committed to recruiting 5,000 users of the service across London from the most vulnerable groups, in particular the vulnerable elderly and those with severe illnesses affected by air pollution. At the end of 2007 the partner will assess the success of the service and decide on a recruitment target for 2008.

 

The project also plans a significant evaluation programme to determine the usefulness of the service to users. Preliminary studies have shown an excellent user response, with 97% of users reporting they found ther service useful or very useful and 64% reporting a change in their behaviour. At the end of 2008, ESA funding will end and the results of the evaluation will be used to determine whether the airTEXT service should be expanded or ended.

 

The airTEXT consortium partners are:

 

Cambridge Environmental Research Consultants

City of London Corporation

Environment Agency

European Space Agency

Greater London Authority

Health Protection Agency

London Borough of Brent

London Borough of Camden

London Borough of Croydon

London Borough of Ealing

London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham

London Borough of Hackney

London Borough of Harrow

London Borough of Hillingdon

London Borough of Hounslow

London Borough of Islington

London Borough of Lewisham

London Borough of Merton

London Borough of Newham

London Borough of Richmond upon Thames

London Borough of Southwark

London Borough of Sutton

London Borough of Wandsworth

Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Slough Borough Council

Westminster City Council