Marginal External Costs of Peak and Non Peak Urban Transport in Belgium

This paper discusses intermediate results of an ongoing research project to estimate all external costs from all transport modes in Belgium. It gives estimates of the marginal external costs of air pollution from urban transport. The evaluation of the environmental impacts is based on the European ExternE accounting framework. This methodology uses the impact pathway analysis for the detailed bottom-up assessment of impacts from air pollutants. It integrates state of the art knowledge in the fields of emission modelling, dispersion modelling, dose-response functions and monetary valuation. This paper focuses on the impact of location (rural areas versus cities), regulation, traffic conditions and congestion on environmental externalities. These case studies for Belgium confirm earlier results of the ExternE project that external environmental costs of car transport are significant and that damage to public health is the dominant impact. In addition, it shows that externalities of urban peak traffic are 2 to 4 times higher than for normal urban driving conditions. Finally, it calculates which occupancy rates are required for urban public transport (trams and diesel buses) to have lower external costs compared to passenger cars.Externalities, Urban transport, Air pollution, Congestion, Sustainable mobility

Road pollution estimation using static cameras and neural networks

Este artículo presenta una metodología para estimar la contaminación en carreteras mediante el análisis de secuencias de video de tráfico. El objetivo es aprovechar la gran red de cámaras IP existente en el sistema de carreteras de cualquier estado o país para estimar la contaminación en cada área. Esta propuesta utiliza redes neuronales de aprendizaje profundo para la detección de objetos, y un modelo de estimación de contaminación basado en la frecuencia de vehículos y su velocidad. Los experimentos muestran prometedores resultados que sugieren que el sistema se puede usar en solitario o combinado con los sistemas existentes para medir la contaminación en carreteras.Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech

Health impacts from diesel freight emissions: Development of a geospatial analytical framework for policy evaluation with a case study of Sacramento, CA

Diesel particulate matter, emitted by many types of freight transport, poses a health risk to populations living near freight activity. Accurate information about the magnitude and location of health impacts would help inform policy decisions at a number of levels. Existing methods, including atmospheric dispersion modeling, epidemiology or air quality measurement can estimate the magnitude of harm experienced by populations but these methods often require resources or expertise beyond the reach of some stakeholders, particularly those at local levels. This thesis describes a framework by which health impact estimation can be carried out utilizing readily available models and methodologies in a more simple fashion. This framework postulates that significant parts of the analytic process can be automated by computer scripts or other programmatic structures, thereby reducing the time, expertise and resource requirements for health impact analyses. These analyses will allow policy makers to more effectively evaluate the expected health impacts of transport policy and incorporate public health considerations into other policy making activities. This thesis assembles the analytic tools required for these analyses and outlines the ways in which they might be joined into a single piece of software; though the actual creation of this software is left to future work. A case study of on-highway truck activity in Sacramento, CA utilizes this analytic framework. This case study demonstrates framework and also highlights some possible policy directions for transport in the region

Dispersion and emission modelling of traffic induced road dust

This thesis is concerned with the evaluation and development of models related to the emissions and dispersion of traffic induced road dust. Road traffic is a highly important source of a range of pollutants having adverse health and environmental effects. Development of models describing traffic related emissions and dispersion of pollutants will in the end lead to robust models that well reproduce available air quality measurements. Furthermore, such models will aid the analysis of existing mitigation measures, as well as developing new ones, to reduce the emissions of traffic related pollutants. The first study deals with the modelling of the dispersion and resulting concentration levels of NOx at distances up to 100 m from major roads in rural areas, using four Gaussian open road line source models developed in Norway, Denmark and Finland. These models were applied to datasets from measurement campaigns conducted in rural areas near major roads in the mentioned countries. NOx was considered since it was measured at all sites, its emissions are well known and since it can be treated as a tracer for the short time scales involved. When comparing the models with the measurements we found that the results are sensitive to the parameterisation of traffic produced turbulence (TPT), especially at distances close to the road in combination with low wind speeds. The Danish model OML-Highway performed best at all sites due to its parameterisation of TPT based on turbulent kinetic energy. The second study is concerned with the development of a more generalised model framework to describe road dust emissions, i.e. emissions of particulate matter (PM) from the road surface due to road surface wear as well as resuspension of deposited material on the road surface and road shoulders. There is a need for a more generalised road dust emission model since the majority of already developed road dust emission models contain empirical constants or functions related to local air quality measurements. As such, the applicability of these models on other road environments is limited and they cannot be used for analysis of mitigation measures related to road dust emissions. The model concept described in this study accounts for the main processes controlling road dust emissions and does not depend on local measurements; it is based on measurements of road, tyre and brake wear to obtain the relevant emission factors. A mass balance concept is used for describing the variation in dust load on the road surface and shoulders. Furthermore, the model separates the direct emissions and resuspension and treats the road surface and shoulder as two individual sources. When applying the model onto two datasets from measurement campaigns conducted at major roads in and outside Oslo, Norway, during the studded tyre season, it performed well during warm periods and less well for temperatures close to or below 0 ºC in combination with precipitation. As such, refinements of the parameterisations of road surface conditions are needed and measurement campaigns with the aim of understanding the effect of road surface conditions on road dust emissions should be conducted. In spite of the current limitations, the model provides a well described conceptual framework and describes processes that no model has ever done before. The model will in the future provide the potential for good air quality planning

Analysis and comparison of the national and regional emission inventories for the Greater Madrid Region through air quality simulations

Este trabajo presenta un análisis y una metodología para la armonización de inventarios de emisiones utilizados en modelos de calidad del aire