Connecting traffic and environmental data: the Traffic Flow Data Space white paper

How can sharing traffic and environmental data help cities better understand roadwork disruptions and local air quality? The Traffic Flow Data Space (TFDS) pilot’s new whitepaper explores this question through practical applications and deployment lessons from Amsterdam, Helsinki and Porto.

Developed within the European Data Space for Smart Communities (DS4SSCC) and running from November 2024 to June 2026, TFDS explored how combining municipal roadwork records, commercial vehicle data and air quality measurements can support more informed urban management.

The whitepaper presents key outputs, including IDEA 2.0, an open-source application for validating actual traffic disruptions at roadwork sites, and AirQ, a prototype connecting traffic conditions with local air quality measurements. It also introduces tools for understanding how major roadworks affect surrounding streets.

Alongside these applications, the publication shares lessons from testing data space technology. While a fully operational data space was not achieved during the pilot, the experience highlights the importance of trusted data sharing, interoperability and accessible solutions for participating organisations. For instance, the IDEA 2.0 application, developed in Amsterdam and operationalized across the Netherlands, demonstrates how cities can use real-time traffic data to validate the traffic flow at planned street closures, eliminating discrepancies between when a roadwork permit begins and when traffic is actually disrupted.

For cities and communities exploring cross-sector data sharing, the whitepaper offers practical insights into the opportunities, implementation challenges and potential for replication across Europe.

📄 Read the full whitepaper to discover the pilot’s results and lessons here