Energy demand and economic consequences of transport policy

Burning of fuels from the transport sector is one of the main sources of air pollutants emission in urban areas. In order to implement public policies concerning air quality and public health, there is a need to develop emission inventories. Measurements inside traffic tunnels can provide an evaluation of emission factors of vehicles in-use in real conditions. In this paper, we show measurements of air pollutants for a mixed vehicle fleet, heavyand light-duty vehicles (HDVs and LDVs), in two tunnels in the metropolitan region of Sao Paulo in 2011 in order to calculate the pollutant emission factors (EFs). Measurements of carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxides (NO x ) and particle matter (PM 2.5 ) were taken. High concentrations related to high-density traffic, especially during weekdays. EFs were heavily influenced by the pollutant species loads, so the total vehicle traffic and the fraction of HDV. The EF values for HDV were 3.6 and 9.2 g km -1 , for CO and NO x , respectively (5.8 and 0.3 g km -1 for LDV). To determine EF estimates, parameters such as velocity of the air, cross-sectional area and length of the tunnel and vehicles passing at 1-h time interval were considered.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emission factors of air pollutants from vehicles measured inside road tunnels in São Paulo: case study comparison

Pérez-Martínez

Miranda²,

Nogueira

et al. 2014

“…Spanning over a decade across, both the studies still point at Belfast as the most car-dependent city in UK and despite this from the policy standpoint budgetary allocations for investment in roads is four times that of public transport investment (Strategic Investment Board NI 2012). Other studies have also mentioned such disproportionate investment in road infrastructure that resulted in a surge of road traffic as opposed to other sustainable modes (Alam et al 2013). From our study, we find that car dependency becomes more acute as we go further out of the city.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 46%

Identifying the underlying constructs linking urban form and travel behaviour using a grounded theory approach

Banerjee

Hine

2014

The role of urban form in influencing travel behaviour has gained particular interest to scholars and policy makers to achieve a broader goal of sustainability despite varied scholastic opinion on the effectiveness of this relationship. While transportation forms the nexus of any urban environment, it also accounts for about thirty-six per cent of the total energy consumption in the UK [Department of Energy and Climate Change, UK, 2013]. Thus, an emphasis to reduce greenhouse emissions in this sector remains a key policy objective to achieve sustainability. Also there is an overemphasis of research in this area on quantitative association between key variables as opposed to qualitative exploration in order to understand complex human behaviour. The study reported in this paper has been designed to address this gap. Using a grounded theory analysis, this paper reports findings from 6 focus group discussions and 17 in-depth interviews. Fifty-three participants were recruited from three case study areas across Northern Ireland to represent the urban continuum. Seven overarching categories have been identified explaining the interrelationships between urban form and travel behaviour in the Northern Ireland context. However, at a macro-scale, land-use policies have played a dominant role in shaping the travel patterns and this has translated in the form of car dependency and residential immobility over the years in Northern Ireland. Although current policy now adopts a more integrated approach to curb urban sprawl and achieve modal split, soft policy measures have proved useful in increasing the effectiveness of these policy interventions.

“…This historical policy bias has created modal share patterns dominated by road transport for both passenger and freight movement (Alam et al 2013). Auckland as a city continues to rely heavily on private vehicles as the primary means of transport.…”

Section: Study Contextmentioning

confidence: 99%

Challenges to active transport in a car-dependent urban environment: a case study of Auckland, New Zealand

Faherty

Morrissey

2014

There is a wide body of literature which suggests that current urban transport practices are not sustainable in the long term. This study analyses the potential for planning strategies to overcome challenges limiting the wider uptake of the active transport modes of walking and cycling in the modern urban environment, evaluating the problems and potential solutions through a case study of Auckland, New Zealand. Auckland is a car-dependent city which has recently undergone significant restructuring of local governance structures. The recently released Auckland plan has explicit targets to increase active transport rates and to develop an urban form more conducive to walking and cycling. This paper presents an analysis of stakeholder interview data collected in Auckland in the aftermath of the restructure and Auckland Plan release. Analysis provides an evaluation of current approaches taken by the Auckland Council to increase rates of active transport and highlights a range of policy instruments which could be adopted to augment current approaches. Results indicate that comprehensive integration of approaches to active transport by transport authorities has yet to be achieved, presenting a significant challenge for further promotion of walking and cycling within the city.