The $27 million pilot, backed by California Climate Investments (CCI) and funded through the state’s Cap-and-Trade program, represents an unprecedented scale of mobile environmental monitoring. Covering 950,000 miles and 5.2 million residents, the project is expected to deliver 50–100 times more data per dollar than traditional air quality efforts. Monitoring began in June 2025 and will continue through June 2026, culminating in the release of publicly available data and tools to inform community planning, regulatory action, and academic research.
Aclima’s low-emission vehicles are equipped with advanced air sensors to measure pollutants as they travel along public roads, capturing hyper-local environmental data. Supporting the initiative are mobile laboratories operated by researchers from UC Berkeley, UC Riverside, and Aerodyne Research, providing additional analytical capacity.
“This is California doing what we do best—leading, innovating, and reimagining the role of technology in public service,” said Aclima CEO Davida Herzl. “With SMMI, we are measuring more than ever before—in communities that have waited long enough and are not only finally being seen, they’re being heard.”
The program emphasizes local job creation, employing around 100 drivers from the communities being monitored. Vehicles are dispatched from 17 operational hubs across Northern, Central, and Southern California.
More than 60% of the monitoring will focus on CCI priority populations—low-income areas and communities historically exposed to high pollution levels. These communities were nominated through the Community Air Protection Program for targeted action. The initiative is built on extensive community engagement, with over 40 community-based organizations actively shaping monitoring plans and routes.
“For the first time, residents were not only consulted, we were centered,” said Miguel Alatorre Jr., Executive Director of UNIDOS Network in Kettleman City. “Our community members are energized about the role they can play in citizen science.”
The effort has drawn praise from advocacy groups and government officials alike. “By meeting communities where they are and listening to their concerns, we’re building an air quality monitoring system that integrates the lived experiences of the people most impacted by air pollution,” said CARB Executive Officer Dr. Steven Cliff.
Governor Gavin Newsom underscored the political urgency behind the program in the face of federal rollbacks of pollution protections under the Trump administration.
“While the federal government threatens to take us back to the days of smoggy skies and clogged lungs, California continues to lead the way. We’re deploying first-of-their-kind vehicles to monitor pollution levels at a block-by-block level.”
The data collected will not only inform local action but also support regulatory programs, infrastructure planning, and grant applications such as the Community Air Grants Program.
Community leaders like Shante Walker, Executive Director of the Niles Foundation, see the effort as a long-overdue shift in power:
“This project brings real-time air quality monitoring to our communities and gives us data we can use to demand accountability and advocate for change.”
SMMI represents a new era of environmental monitoring—one that leverages real-time data, localized engagement, and scalable technology to address persistent environmental injustices. By June 2026, the initiative will yield a trove of publicly accessible data accompanied by visualization tools to help residents, researchers, and regulators make sense of local air quality.
