As transport represents almost a quarter of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, as well as air pollution which is responsible for around 7 million premature deaths worldwide, reducing emissions linked to the transport sector is one of the key priorities of the European Union and governments around the world. Through its roadmap for Clean & Eco-Mobility, ERTICO affirms its strong commitment towards sustainable mobility and developing greener services. By 2035, the roadmap envisions that all new cars should be zero emissions. Led by ERTICO, the MODALES project makes a key contribution to the roadmap through trainings and its low-emission app for drivers in 2022 and through the development of common methodologies for the impact assessment of ITS measures for clean and eco-mobility for the 2024 milestone.
Since its start in September 2019, the 18 partners of MODALES have been working on realising the project’s vision of substantially reducing air pollution from all types of road vehicles, but in particular older Internal Combustion Engine vehicles. MODALES focuses on the interaction of powertrain, brake wear and tyre wear together with driver behaviour to develop knowledge and guidance for low-emission driving. The project has been developing and testing different innovative solutions to analyse factors influencing emissions from driving, diesel retrofits, EOBD (European On-Board Diagnostics) and vehicle inspection.
Assessing the impact of driver behaviour to curb emissions
To contribute towards this ambitious and important vision, the MODALES project has developed the MODALES app for drivers. Together with training videos providing practical tips for drivers to lower their driving emissions, the app has been tested in real conditions in trial sites across Europe. Both private and professional drivers were able to test the MODALES app after watching training videos to determine their effects on the drivers’ behaviour with regard to low-emission driving.
In parallel, MODALES launched its Low-Emission Driving Awareness Campaign this year to promote good driving and car maintenance practices. The campaign, which is available in 11 languages, provides practical tips aimed at drivers to encourage them to adopt simple steps to reduce their emissions before driving and when driving, and also includes recommendations on proper car maintenance. The campaign uses the hashtag #MODALEStips on social media to share these simple tips.
End of a four-year effort
The MODALES project will officially come to an end in May 2023. A final event will be organised in spring next year, where the project partners will present the final results and achievements of the project.
Andrew Winder, Senior Manager at ERTICO and Project Coordinator of MODALES, says “While electric vehicles will reduce air pollution, especially in urban areas, this shift will still take time, so MODALES addresses an important gap by looking at a range of solutions to improve air quality in the short term, focusing on petrol and diesel vehicles which will still be on the roads for many years to come”.
Be sure to stay updated on MODALES by joining the MODALES LinkedIn Group. Check out also the MODALES website for more information on the project. MODALES updates can also be found on Twitter through the hashtags #MODALESproject and #MODALEStips.
The MODALES project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 815189.
