Safe and healthy mobility in Berlin

With the bicycle navigation app, Fraunhofer FOKUS has developed an innovative navigation application that Comfortable, safe and health-conscious routes for cyclists throughout the city of Berlin . The app calculates individual bike routes based on personal preferences and navigates reliably along the selected route. The following route options are available:

• the safest route: based on our safety index for bicycles and bypassing Accident hotspots
• the route with the lowest air pollution: taking into account the air quality along the route
• the fastest route: takes into account the quality of the road surface During the journey, the Traffic Light Phase Assist also provides support at over 500 traffic lights. It gives individual speed recommendations, with which the next green phase is as comfortable as possible and without unnecessary stopping can be achieved. The basis for this is, among other things, the current driving speed as well as the meter-accurate distance to the traffic lights.

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Data Sources

The route calculation is carried out with both static and highly up-to-date dynamic information, the basis is our Digital Urban Twin based on our and publicly available data. These include:

• Detailed map data (OpenStreetMap Foundation and Community)
• Intersection topologies and traffic light phases accurate to the second (Miovision GmbH)
• Roadworks and closures (Traffic Information Centre Berlin)
• Air pollution forecast (Federal Environment Agency air data, Copernicus CAMS, traffic volumes from the Berlin Environmental Atlas)
• Accident atlas (Statistical Offices of the Federation and the Länder)

How is the air pollution forecast made?

In order for the app to guide you around particularly congested roads, it needs the most accurate possible Assessment of where the air is currently and how clean. This forecast is created in several steps:

• Measured values and models as a basis: Official air monitoring stations of the Federal Environment Agency and the European air quality model Copernicus CAMS provide a comprehensive picture of pollution levels in Berlin – but only roughly gridded, i.e. without the subtle differences from street to street.
• Traffic data sharpens the picture: By far the largest polluter of nitrogen oxides and particulate matter in the Urban traffic is vehicles. That’s why we include the traffic volumes on Berlin’s streets – i.e. how many cars and trucks typically drive on a road (Environmental Atlas Berlin). Trucks are particularly important in this regard: although they only make up a small proportion of vehicles, they cause a disproportionately large proportion of nitrogen oxides.
• From the coarse area to the individual road: From the traffic volumes, we estimate how many exhaust gases are each road approximately, and distribute the rough forecast accordingly more finely. Heavily trafficked Main roads are thus presented as more heavily polluted, quiet side streets as cleaner – without the average value for the entire area changed. The app recognizes where the air is likely to be best and, if desired, can show you the route with the lowest air pollution. As traffic volumes have so far been based on average weekday values, the forecast is naturally somewhat less accurate on weekends and at night.

Join in and try it out

The app is currently in an intensive public beta phase. You are welcome to download it from the Google Playstore or enter the public beta at Testflight on iOS.

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Although the bicycle navigation app was primarily developed and tested for cyclists, it is suitable for as well as for drivers who value individual, safe and data-based route guidance.

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