Towards Infectious Disease Risk Assessment in Taxis Using Environmental Sensors

Hidenaga Ushijima, Shota Ono, Yuuki Nishiyama, Kaoru Sezaki

Abstract: The spread of Coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19) has reaffirmed the importance of ventilation in enclosed public spaces. Studies on air quality in public spaces such as classrooms, hospitals, and trains have been conducted in the past. However, the interior of a taxi, where an extremely small space is shared with an unspecified number of people, has not been sufficiently studied. This is a unique environment where ventilation is important. This study compared ventilation methods focusing on the CO2 concentration in the cabin, and evaluated the frequency of ventilation in an actual taxi using sensing technology.