Health-Optimal Routing in Urban Areas

The availability of novel, high-resolution pollution maps enables a wide range of new application scenarios, which were not possible before. In this paper, we combine high-resolution pollution maps available for the city of Zurich, Switzerland, with road network data to analyze how much urban dwellers can reduce their exposure to air pollution by not taking the shortest path between origin and destination but a healthier and slightly longer alternative route. We introduce a new weight function to assess the exposure on each street segment and evaluate the benefits of the healthier path. Finally, we efficiently implement the algorithm as stand-alone application for iOS and Android devices. The app helps city residents to understand and reduce their exposure to air pollutants.