Cyclists to help monitor Hamilton air quality

Hamilton’s cycling scene is on the fast track, and now the city will be first for a new program to study air quality conditions on wheels.

The bicycle air monitoring program, or BAM! launched at city hall this morning. The Environment Hamilton initiative is mounting devices that measure air particles to bike handlebars.

Along with a GPS, cyclists will be able to see what corners of the city they might want to avoid. Jay Carter of Environment Hamilton says the plan is to make an online interactive map to study the data.

“Already we have about 60 volunteers from all across the city really eager to get these on their bikes and start peddling around, so it’s a very reasonable estimate to say early fall, late summer to have the first maps online.”

Environment Hamilton says air quality readings in the city sometimes exceed the national standard. It hopes the findings will allow it to learn more about tackling the problem.