Urban Mobility Strategies to Improve Local Air Quality: Case Study of Lisbon, Portugal

Abstract

Particulate matter concentrations are still exceeding the European air quality limit values, mainly in the urban areas where a large part of the population lives. Despite the implementation of several policies and measures to reduce the atmospheric emissions from road transport, this activity still has high influence in the air quality of the European cities. The main purpose of this study was to assess the potential of urban mobility strategies to reduce the particulate matter concentrations over the main avenue of Moscavide (a parish within the municipality of Loures, very close to the city of Lisbon, Portugal). The proposed strategies were evaluated by applying an air quality modelling system with a high spatial resolution. The results showed a slight air quality improvement (up to 0.9 μg.m-3) for the tested scenarios. However, complementary studies are still necessary to provide a better understanding of the most efficient urban mobility strategies to be applied over the study area.

Assessment of particulate matter levels and sources in a street canyon at Loures, Portugal – A case study of the REMEDIO project

“…The present work aimed to provide the reference state of particulate matter levels in a street canyon of a Portuguese municipality for use in future modelling studies of the impact of soft and hard solutions on the local PM levels, such as inclusion of bike parking areas, cycling track, green areas and street furniture, enlargement of sidewalks, reduction in the number of traffic lanes and vehicle speed limitation (Lopes et al, 2019). The evaluation of PM levels, including its chemical characterisation and temporal variability, was conducted to identify patterns and the most relevant pollution sources.…”