AbstractsEngineering

Development of an integrated transport and emissions model and applications for population exposure and environmental justice

by Timothy Sider




Institution: McGill University
Department: Department of Civil Engineering & Applied Mechanics
Degree: M. Eng.
Year: 2014
Keywords: Engineering - Civil
Record ID: 2041859
Full text PDF: http://digitool.library.mcgill.ca/thesisfile121263.pdf


Abstract

Road transport has a tremendous impact on local urban regions as well as global planetary health. This impact is especially great given the large quantities of greenhouse gases and local air pollutants released across the world, quantities that continue to increase. For metropolitan regions, reductions in traffic-related air pollution are paramount. Which baseline is used and which strategies should be implemented are both vital questions in this regard. Integrated transport and emissions models are important tools that aid metropolitan planners in answering those questions. A regional traffic assignment model has been connected to a detailed emission processor for the Montreal metropolitan region. The road transport model contains details on all private driving trips across a standard 24-hr workday, including congested link speeds and stochastic path distributions. Meanwhile, the emissions processor incorporates local vehicle registry data and Montreal-specific ambient conditions in the estimation of both running and start emissions. Outputs include hourly link-level and trip-level emissions for greenhouse gases, hydrocarbons, and nitrogen oxides. Three research studies were then explored that were anchored by the integrated transport and emissions model. The first involved testing model sensitivity to variations in input data and randomness. The second study was aimed at understanding the land-use and socioeconomic determinants of traffic-related air pollution generation and exposure. The third study encompassed an equity analysis of social disadvantage, traffic-related air pollution generation and exposure. Major findings include evidence that: start emissions and accurate vehicle registry data have the biggest impact on accurate regional emission inventories; neighbourhoods closer to downtown tend to be low emitters while having high exposures to traffic-related air pollution, while the opposite is true for neighbourhoods in the suburbs and periphery of the region; and marginalized neighbourhoods with high social disadvantage tend to have the highest exposure levels in the region, while at the same time generating some of the lowest quantities of traffic-related air pollution. These findings support the claim that traffic is creating environmental justice issues at the metropolitan level. L'impact des systèmes de transports sur les régions urbaines et la santé planétaire est immense. Cet impact est notamment important parce-que les quantités de gaz à effet de serre et les polluants atmosphériques continuent à augmenter autour du monde. Pour les régions métropolitaines, les réductions de la pollution de l'air liée à la circulation sont essentielles. Cependant, quel point de référence est appliqué, et quelles stratégies devraient être mises en œuvre, sont deux questions vitales à cet égard. Une simulation intégrée du transport et des émissions est un outil important qui aide les planificateurs à répondre à ces questions. Une simulation de la circulation régionale a été liée à un simulateur des émissions…