Air quality monitoring vehicles that helped reduce pollution in West Oakland are expanding statewide

OAKLAND, Calif. (KGO) -- California is launching a major expansion of a mobile air quality monitoring program, deploying vehicles equipped with advanced pollution sensors to 64 cities across the state.

The initiative was first piloted in Oakland and tapped Silicon Valley-based air quality monitoring and mapping company Aclima to lead up the program. The company won a $27 million contract with the California Air Resources Board.

The statewide expansion comes as new data shows significant improvements in air quality and health outcomes in West Oakland following years of targeted interventions. Among the key findings, diesel particulate matter levels have dropped by 31% since 2017, emergency room visits for asthma in young children have declined, and cancer-related deaths linked to air pollution have also decreased.

PREVIOUS: West Oakland air pollution disproportionately affects Black, Latino residents, report finds

Here's why West Oakland Black and Latino residents have worse health outcomes from air pollution and what's being done to fix it.

Margaret Gordon, co-founder of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, has been at the forefront of the push for stricter pollution controls. She said the expansion of mobile air quality monitoring represents a breakthrough for communities long burdened by industrial pollution.

"This is victory in itself, to have not just one neighborhood, but 64 neighborhoods with the same level of momentum," Gordon said.

For decades, residents of West Oakland have endured some of the highest pollution levels in the Bay Area, largely due to the steady flow of heavy-duty diesel trucks traveling to and from the Port of Oakland snaking through local streets.

To demand improvements to the air quality Ms. Gordon and her group had to be able to accurately monitor it on their block - something the two-and-a-half dozen stationary air quality monitors in the Bay Area can't do.

A 2021 ABC7 News investigation highlighted the consequences, showing that children in the neighborhood were more likely to suffer from severe asthma that landed them in the emergency room and that life expectancy in the area was more than seven years lower than in other parts of Alameda County.

At the time, Gordon was partnering with Aclima, to prove what they already knew: air quality was significantly worse on their block than in neighborhoods just a couple of zip codes away. The work conducted by Aclima in the West Oakland pilot built on similar data WOEIP gathered over the years using small air quality monitors fit in fanny pack style pouches that were worn as neighbors walked around the area.

MORE: Bay Area groups make air quality sensors more accessible in low-income areas

Some Bay Area groups are working to make monitors to track air quality more accessible for low-income communities.

Silicon Valley-based Aclima, founded in 2014, developed high-accuracy mobile air quality sensors capable of mapping pollution levels down to the street.

"We proved that pollution is hyper-local, that it varies from one block to the by five to eight times," said Aclima CEO Davida Herzl.

Herzl got the idea for Aclima while she was in law school.

"I realized that the legal framework that we use to actually regulate emissions is grounded in this principle of measurement. In order to be able to regulate emissions, we need to be able to measure them," said Herzl.

She invited ABC7 News Anchor Julian Glover to take one of the vehicles for a drive.

"In the trunk, we have our Aclima mobile node and that measures a core set of pollutants," said Herzl. "PM 2.5, CO2, methane, black carbon, and a number of other measurements."

The data played a key role in shaping local policy changes. West Oakland saw the electrification of some port operations, the transition to cleaner engines in cargo ships and trucks, and increased enforcement of emissions regulators. Those efforts have led to measurable improvements in air quality and public health in both West Oakland and the wider Alameda County region.

MORE: Another fire at Moss Landing battery facility raises health and air quality concerns

There was another fire at the Vistra Energy battery storage facility near Moss Landing in Monterey County on Tuesday night.

The success of the West Oakland pilot has prompted state officials to deploy Aclima's vehicles statewide. Over the next several months, Aclima's fleet of low-emission and electric vehicles will begin collecting data in cities across California, from the Bay Area and Central Valley to Southern California.

The company is also partnering with UC Berkeley, UC Riverside, and research firm Aerodyne to conduct advanced pollution testing in high-risk areas.

A key feature of the program is its focus on community engagement. Half of the drivers for Aclima's monitoring fleet will be hired from the communities being studied, a move designed to ensure local involvement in environmental advocacy efforts.

The goal is for the data collected to empower other communities and community leaders like West Oakland and Ms. Gordon who now serves as an advisor for this statewide project.

For Gordon, the expansion signals a shift toward data-driven environmental justice, empowering more communities with the information needed to push for cleaner air.

"To have this many communities gaining access to the same level of data and research, it raises the bar for what's possible," she said.

Data collection is expected to take about nine months, with results helping to inform future air quality regulations and community-led initiatives across the state.

The cars should hit the road in California in the next few months.