Environmentally sensitive traffic management in Osnabrück

In Osnabrück, a pilot project on environmentally sensitive traffic management will start in the middle of the year. If the limit values for nitrogen dioxide are exceeded, a traffic light control system will come into effect to make traffic more fluid.

The city of Osnabrück has been struggling with high nitrogen dioxide levels for several years now. Critical limit values were repeatedly exceeded. The city therefore adopted a clean air plan back in 2008 and updated it in 2018. Various measures are intended to remedy the situation. Among other things, the clean air plan provides for the introduction of environmentally sensitive traffic management ( UVM for short). Hundreds of traffic and weather detectors will collect data on air pollution levels at 35 locations in the city. The data is linked to an environmentally sensitive traffic light control system.

If there is a risk of fixed limits being exceeded, traffic lights are switched so that traffic can flow more smoothly. For example, traffic lights on entry roads stay red for longer so that traffic on the main road is not slowed down and accelerated again. As soon as the air quality has improved, the targets are deactivated. According to the authorities, this type of traffic flow control is only necessary on a few days a year. The city also wants to inform road users about the activation of the measures at an early stage so that they can adapt to the current situation. If the initial measures are not sufficient, the city intends to take the next step of restricting traffic on the access roads. “This does not mean that it will come to a standstill,” emphasizes city planning officer Frank Otte. However, the measures could prevent excessive traffic volumes on the Wallring, for example.

However, there is also criticism of the project. On the one hand, the measures also restrict those road users who do not contribute to air pollution, such as pedestrians and cyclists. On the other hand, the measures could even make the situation in Osnabrück worse rather than better. At least that’s what Tamás Kurczveil, Professor of Digitalization and New Mobility at Ostfalia University in Salzgitter, predicts. There could be a positive effect in the short term. In the long term, however, smoother traffic would actually encourage people to use their cars even more in the city.

The one-and-a-half-year test phase that is now starting should show which forecasts are fulfilled. The environmentally sensitive traffic light control system will be activated by mid-2023. The city of Osnabrück is investing 3.5 million for this. Half of the money was contributed by the Federal Ministry of Transport from the “Clean Air 2017-2020” funding pot. The new traffic management system is only possible thanks to the digitalization of the technology. The data collection by the detectors and the processing of the information was previously not possible to such an extent. Despite all the criticism, Kurczveil also has words of praise for the new infrastructure: “I think it’s very important that we make traffic decisions based on data and measurements. And this project provides a great basis for that.”

Read more about air pollution here.