Road traffic pollution monitoring and modelling tools and the UK national air quality strategy.

This paper provides an assessment of the tools required to fulfil the air quality management role now expected of local authorities within the UK. The use of a range of pollution monitoring tools in assessing air quality is discussed and illustrated with evidence from a number of previous studies of urban background and roadside pollution monitoring in Leicester. A number of approaches to pollution modelling currently available for deployment are examined. Subsequently, the modelling and monitoring tools are assessed against the requirements of Local Authorities establishing Air Quality Management Areas. Whilst the paper examines UK based policy, the study is of wider international interest

Towards a real-time microscopic emissions model

This article presents a new approach to microscopic road traffic exhaust emission modelling. The model described uses data from the SCOOT demand-responsive traffic control system implemented in over 170 cities across the world. Estimates of vehicle speed and classification are made using data from inductive detector loops located on every SCOOT link. This data feeds into a microscopic traffic model to enable enhanced modelling of the driving modes of vehicles (acceleration, deceleration, idling and cruising). Estimates of carbon monoxide emissions are made by applying emission factors from an extensive literature review. A critical appraisal of the development and validation of the model is given before the model is applied to a study of the impact of high emitting vehicles. The article concludes with a discussion of the requirements for the future development and benefits of the application of such a model

Forecasting environmental equity: Air quality responses to road user charging in Leeds, UK

Sustainable development requires that the goals of economic development, environmental protection and social justice are considered collectively when formulating development strategies. In the context of planning sustainable transport systems, trade-offs between the economy and the environment, and between the economy and social justice have received considerable attention. In contrast, much less attention has been paid to environmental equity, the trade-off between environmental and social justice goals, a significant omission given the growing attention to environmental justice by policy makers in the EU and elsewhere. In many countries, considerable effort has been made to develop clean transport systems by using, for example, technical, economic and planning instruments. However, little effort has been made to understand the distributive and environmental justice implications of these measures. This paper investigates the relationship between urban air quality (as NO2) and social deprivation for the city of Leeds, UK. Through application of a series of linked dynamic models of traffic simulation and assignment, vehicle emission, and pollutant dispersion, the environmental equity implications of a series of urban transport strategies, including road user cordon and distance based charging, road network development, and emission control, are assessed. Results indicate a significant degree of environmental inequity exists in Leeds. Analysis of the transport strategies indicates that this inequity will be reduced through natural fleet renewal, and, perhaps contrary to expectations, road user charging is also capable of promoting environmental equity. The environmental equity response is however, sensitive to road pricing scheme design

The effect of short-term changes in air pollution on respiratory and cardiovascular morbidity in Nicosia, Cyprus.

Presented at the 6th International Conference on Urban Air Quality, Limassol, March, 2007. Short-paper was submitted for peer-review and appears in proceedings of the conference.This study investigates the effect of daily changes in levels of PM10 on the daily volume of respiratory and cardiovascular admissions in Nicosia, Cyprus during 1995-2004. After controlling for long- (year and month) and short-term (day of the week) patterns as well as the effect of weather in Generalized Additive Poisson models, some positive associations were observed with all-cause and cause-specific admissions. Risk of hospitalization increased stepwise across quartiles of days with increasing levels of PM10 by 1.3% (-0.3, 2.8), 4.9% (3.3, 6.6), 5.6% (3.9, 7.3) as compared to days with the lowest concentrations. For every 10μg/m3 increase in daily average PM10 concentration, there was a 1.2% (-0.1%, 2.4%) increase in cardiovascular admissions. With respects to respiratory admissions, an effect was observed only in the warm season with a 1.8% (-0.22, 3.85) increase in admissions per 10μg/m3 increase in PM10. The effect on respiratory admissions seemed to be much stronger in women and, surprisingly, restricted to people of adult age

Reducing Urban Pollution Exposure from Road Transport(RUPERT)

This paper presents the preliminary results of a two-year study on reducing urban pollution exposure from road transport (RUPERT). The main aim of this project is to develop a new modelling framework for nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide and particulate matter to simulate exposures of different population groups across a city, and to assess the impact of roadside concentrations on these exposures. This will be achieved by modelling the frequency distribution of personal exposures (PEFDs) as a function of urban background and roadside concentrations, under different traffic conditions. The modelling approach combines new and existing models relating traffic and air pollution data, with particular emphasis of the impact of congestion, and the probabilistic modelling framework of personal exposure. Modelling of roadside concentrations consists of two main elements, namely the analysis of concentrations patterns at different roadside sites and of the relationship between traffic conditions and added roadside pollution. Roadside concentrations are predicted using empirically derived relationships; statistical models, novel statistics and artificial neural networks namely feed forward neural network and radial basis neural network. The exposure modelling is carried out by linking two models: the INDAIR model, which is designed to simulate probabilistically diurnal profiles of air pollutant concentrations in a range of microenvironments, and the EXPAIR model, which is designed to simulate population exposure patterns based on population time-activity patterns and a library of micro-environmental concentrations derived from the INDAIR model

The air quality impact of cordon and distance based road user charging: an empirical study of Leeds, U.K

Traffic assignment, pollutant emission and dispersion models were applied to a major UK city so as to assess the air quality impacts of five road pricing schemes. Schemes were evaluated with reference to: exceedence of air quality standards for six pollutants; greenhouse gas emission; redistribution of pollution, an environmental justice concern; and road network performance as traffic speed and trip distance. Results were compared to alternatives of do nothing, network development and clean fuel promotion. The air quality benefits of a modest distance based charge are highlighted. However, whilst road pricing shows potential as an air quality management tool, its value and suitability are strongly sensitive to prior air quality and emission source apportionment in the application city