Evaluation of the impact of transportation changes on air quality

Abstract

h i g h l i g h t sEffect of air quality plans on black carbon concentrations has been evaluated. Black carbon concentrations were reduced by limiting traffic to public transport. Reorganization of bus routes and renewal of the bus fleet improve air quality. a b s t r a c t Transport regulation at local level for the abatement of air pollution has gained significant traction in the EU. In this work, we analyze the effect of different transportation changes on air quality in two similarly sized cities: Granada (Spain) and Ljubljana (Slovenia). Several air pollutants were measured at both sites before and after the implementation of the changes. In Ljubljana, a 72% reduction of local black carbon (BC), from 5.6 to 1.6 mg/m 3 , was observed after the restriction was implemented. In Granada, statistically significant reductions of 1.3 mg/m 3 (37%) in BC and of 15 mg/m 3 (33%) in PM 10 concentrations were observed after the public transportation re-organization. However, the improvement observed in air quality was very local since other areas of the cities did not improve significantly. We show that closing streets to private traffic, renewal of the bus fleet and re-organization of the public transportation significantly benefit air quality.

Emission Characteristics of Primary Brown Carbon Absorption From Biomass and Coal Burning: Development of an Optical Emission Inventory for China

“…Here absolute uncertainties of −20% and +40% were adopted to simulate AAE BC over a range from 0.8 to 1.4 . The relative uncertainty of absorption measurements of the model AE33 is ±5% (Titos et al, 2015).…”

Spatial and temporal variability of carbonaceous aerosols: Assessing the impact of biomass burning in the urban environment

“…In addition, a new bus line operated by new buses with lower emissions passing through Gran Vía street, GV, was implemented. Titos et al (2015) showed that EBC concentrations were reduced in 37% in GV in the two weeks just after the new system was operational. No changes were observed in other parts of the city like PC or UGR .…”

“…The total method uncertainty for the aerosol light absorption coefficient inferred from MAAP measurements is around 12% (Petzold and Schönlinner, 2004;Petzold et al, 2005). (Hansen and Novakov, 1984) and AE33 (Drinovec et al, 2015). A complete description of the operating principles of Aethalometers can be found in Hansen (2005) and Drinovec et al (2015).…”

“…A large number of air quality plans have been implemented in the past years in urban areas with the aim of reducing air pollution (Harrison et al, 2015), most of them focusing on traffic emissions (Invernizzi et al, 2011;Titos et al, 2015). In Granada, the public transportation was re-organized in June 2014 to reduce overlap between lines in the city centre.…”

“…(Hansen and Novakov, 1984) and AE33 (Drinovec et al, 2015). A complete description of the operating principles of Aethalometers can be found in Hansen (2005) and Drinovec et al (2015). The Aethalometer measures the light attenuation through a quartz filter matrix as aerosols are deposited on the filter.…”