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Although the Netherlands is a real cycling country, there is a big difference in the availability of knowledge, data and information about cycling compared to, for example, the car. As a result, cycling often remains underexposed in general mobility policy. Fortunately, there has been growing attention for the bicycle in recent years. Rightly so, because cycling can contribute to solving various social problems. This not only concerns traffic problems, but also air quality, public health, interaction/participation and the experience of happiness.

The province of Utrecht wants to be a frontrunner in this area of ​​cycling knowledge and stimulate cycling in the Netherlands. With this objective, the province of Utrecht started the Snifferbike experiment in 2019. Mobile data was collected by bicycles on a large scale by participating citizens.

In 2019, 500 cyclists received a measuring box (mobile sensor) with which the air quality and GPS position are measured every 10 seconds. Every 2 minutes the data is sent to a data platform and made available as open data. The data that is collected is also sent to RIVM to validate the data against the official national monitoring network.

More information about Snuffelfiets can be found in the article "Cycle routes and air quality monitoring with REAL citizen’s engagement"" and results of a year-long measurement are contained in an article in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (Assessment of PM2.5 Exposure during Cycle Trips in The Netherlands Using Low-Cost Sensors).