Taxis help monitor pollution in Jinan

A batch of 100 taxis equipped with air quality monitors that can measure particulate matter such as PM2.5 and PM10 have hit the road in Jinan, Shandong province, the city's environmental protection bureau said on Tuesday.

The vehicles generate data every three seconds, and transmit measurements and video back to the city's monitoring center in real time.

It is estimated that the taxis will travel a total of more than 23,000 kilometers a day and cover more than 95 percent of the roads in downtown Jinan. An estimated 1.2 million data sets will be generated every day, according to the bureau.