Madrid already has a radar that measures the emissions of vehicles on the road

Once Madrid Central has been eliminated, work has begun on creating Zones of Low Emissions of Special Protection, but that is not the end of it. Madrid already has a radar capable of measuring the emissions of vehicles in circulation. At present, the emissions radar is in the testing phase, so for the time being it has not started issuing fines.

Specifically, this new emissions radar in its testing phase is located on Prim Street in Madrid. If you pass through it every day, you may have noticed a booth of similar dimensions to a speed camera. It is the first emissions-measuring booth for road traffic. This device can calculate, remotely and on a mass scale, the real emissions of every vehicle that drives through the area.

This is how Madrid’s new emissions radar works

The City Council has confirmed that this booth has a camera which, using an infrared and ultraviolet light beam, crosses the roadway and can even identify the license plate of the vehicle in question. In this way, the radar collects the data from its technical sheet through the Directorate-General of Traffic’s database or the municipal registries. In addition to this function, the new booth also works as a speed camera, as it calculates the speed and acceleration of vehicles.

It is important to highlight that this emissions radar project is already in phase 2. During the first phase, Madrid’s emissions radar was operational for 36 days. In that time, and according to the figures, it detected 67,388 vehicles, 77% of which were passenger cars. Of the total, 4.7% did not have an environmental badge, making them responsible for almost 29% of total emissions at that point.

Ángel Niño, Madrid’s Deputy Councillor for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, stated that “we are facing the first real-time remote sensing system for polluting particles from vehicles with Spanish technology. The ultimate goal will be to be able to detect which vehicles enter a low-emissions zone.”

This new Madrid emissions radar will be essential in implementing the new Sustainable Mobility Ordinance the City Council is working on. It should be noted that this future regulation will include the obligation for certain vehicles to undergo a spot inspection at the ITV (vehicle inspection stations) when officers suspect high emissions while driving around the city.

Borja Carabante, Madrid’s Deputy Councillor for Environment and Mobility, stated that “we are considering sending this personalized information directly to vehicle owners so they have reliable knowledge of their vehicles’ emission levels and can therefore make a greater environmental commitment by verifying those emissions at the ITV.”