Integrated Simulation Platform for Quantifying the Traffic-Induced Environmental and Health Impacts

Air quality and human exposure to mobile source pollutants have become major concerns in urban transportation. Existing studies mainly focus on mitigating traffic congestion and reducing carbon footprints, with limited understanding of traffic-related health impacts from the environmental justice perspective. To address this gap, we present an innovative integrated simulation platform that models traffic-related air quality and human exposure at the microscopic level. The platform consists of five modules: SUMO for traffic modeling, MOVES for emissions modeling, a 3D grid-based dispersion model, a Matlab-based concentration visualizer, and a human exposure model. Our case study on multi-modal mobility on-demand services demonstrates that a distributed pickup strategy can reduce human cancer risk associated with PM2.5 by 33.4% compared to centralized pickup. Our platform offers quantitative results of traffic-related air quality and health impacts, useful for evaluating environmental issues and improving transportation systems management and operations strategies.Comment: 35 pages, 11 figure

On-Board Sensor-Based NO x Emissions from Heavy-Duty Diesel Vehicles

Real-world nitrogen oxides (NOx) emissions were estimated using on-board sensor readings from 72 heavy-duty diesel vehicles (HDDVs) equipped with a Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system in California. The results showed that there were large differences between in-use and certification NOx emissions, with 12 HDDVs emitting more than three times the standard during hot-running and idling operations in the real world. The overall NOx conversion efficiencies of the SCR system on many vehicles were well below the 90% threshold that is expected for an efficient SCR system, even when the SCR system was above the optimum operating temperature threshold of 250 °C. This could potentially be associated with SCR catalyst deterioration on some engines. The Not-to-Exceed (NTE) requirements currently used by the heavy-duty in-use compliance program were evaluated using on-board NOx sensor data. Valid NTE events covered only 4.2–16.4% of the engine operation and 6.6–34.6% of the estimated NOx emissions. This work shows that low cost on-board NOx sensors are a convenient tool to monitor in-use NOx emissions in real-time, evaluate the SCR system performance, and identify vehicle operating modes with high NOx emissions. This information can inform certification and compliance programs to ensure low in-use NOx emissions

Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Freight Movement through Eco-Driving Programs for Heavy-Duty Trucks

DTRT13-G-UTC29Eco-driving involves fuel efficient driving techniques and maintenance practices. Truck eco-driving may provide economic or other incentives to drivers to avoid heavy traffic, drive at moderate speeds, avoid sudden braking or acceleration, reduce idling, and maintain specified tire inflation. Truck eco-driving can reduce fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by 5-15%. Educating drivers is a crucial component of eco-driving programs. Other components include vehicle maintenance and technology support, such as speed limiters, and policy support, such as subsidies for engine retrofitting or incorporating eco-driving into the commercial driver's license process

Reducing the Carbon Footprint of Heavy-Duty Trucks through Eco-Driving [Policy Brief]

DTRT13-G-UTC29This policy brief summarizes findings from a research report that examines the fuel-savings and GHG emissions impacts of various eco-driving practices