Congestion and Emissions Mitigation: A Comparison of Capacity, Demand, and Efficiency Based Strategies
Sponsor
The authors would like to thank for their support of this project: the Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium and the US Department of Transportation through the Eisenhower Graduate Fellowship program
Published In
Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment
Document Type
Citation
Publication Date
10-2012
Subjects
Congestion mitigation, Emissions reductions, Vehicle emissions, Traffic management
Abstract
Capacity, demand, and vehicle based emissions reduction strategies are compared for several pollutants employing aggregate US congestion and vehicle fleet condition data. We find that congestion mitigation does not inevitably lead to reduced emissions; the net effect of mitigation depends on the balance of induced travel demand and increased vehicle efficiency that in turn depend on the pollutant, congestion level, and fleet composition. In the long run, capacity-based congestion improvements within certain speed intervals can reasonably be expected to increase emissions of CO2e, CO, and NOx through increased vehicle travel volume. Better opportunities for emissions reductions exist for HC and PM2.5 emissions, and on more heavily congested arterials. Advanced-efficiency vehicles with emissions rates that are less sensitive to congestion than conventional vehicles generate less emissions co-benefits from congestion mitigation.
Rights
Copyright 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
Locate the Document
DOI
10.1016/j.trd.2012.06.008
Persistent Identifier
http://archives.pdx.edu/ds/psu/20803
Citation Details
Alexander Y. Bigazzi, Miguel A. Figliozzi (2012). Congestion and emissions mitigation: A comparison of capacity, demand, and vehicle based strategies, Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, Volume 17, Issue 7, Pages 538-547.