A system dynamics modeling for urban air pollution: A case study of Tehran,Iran

Development of strategies to control urban air pollution is a complex process involving a wide range of sciences. In this study a system dynamics model is proposed in order to estimate the behavior of parameters affecting air pollution in Tehran. The proposed model includes two subsystems: (1) urban transportation, (2) air polluting industries. In this paper, several policies are proposed to mitigate air pollution. The proposed model is simulated under several scenarios using historical data of transportation and industrial sectors in Tehran. Policies are categorized as: (1) road construction, (2) technology improvement in fuel and automotive industries, (3) traffic control plans, (4) development of public transportation infrastructures. The results show effectiveness of the proposed policies. In this case, technology improvement in fuel and automotive industries and development of public transportation infrastructures are more effective policies in order to reduce air pollution.     

Rural environment stakeholders and policy making: Willingness to pay to reduce road transportation pollution impact in the Western Pyrenees

In spite of the strategic national and regional development importance of transportation infrastructures, road transportation is one of the major sources of externalities worldwide. Using data collected from 900 residents living in 14 rural towns near the roads crossing the Spanish Pyrenees, we model citizens’ willingness-to-pay (WTP) to reduce noise and air pollution. We collect the data adopting a contingent valuation method (CVM) design and we analyze the data employing a Zero-Inflated Ordered Probit (ZIOP) model, which allows us to account for an excessive number of zero observations. Our results are in contrast with previous studies’ results with regard to environmental attitudes and socio-economic profiles of residents. Our findings indicate that the stakeholders living near major roads have higher incentives to offset environmental costs. Also, younger, better educated, and more environmentally-aware citizens are willing to pay more to reduce externalities, as they are influenced by their values and environmentally friendly sub-culture, possibly fostered during the past 30 years of green movement worldwide campaigning.     

The influence of integrated space–transport development strategies on air pollution in urban areas

The phenomenon of urban sprawl has strong impacts on transport performance and accessibility and causes an increase of air pollution. Effective control of urban sprawl requires an integrated approach comprising urban transport and land-use planning. Current research is insufficient to demonstrate the effects of urban sprawl on travel behavior and air pollution emission. The present paper examines the potential of an integrated approach on space–transport development strategies with the aim of increasing accessibility and reducing air pollution. A combination of space and transport strategies has been simulated for the rapidly expanding city of Surabaya. A comparative analysis of the impact of those cases indicates the promising potential alternatives to minimize the phenomenon. The transport options considered are combinations of Public Transport (PT), comprising Mass Rapid Transit (MRT), Light Rapid Transit (LRT), and Bus Rapid Transit (BRT). The options for urban structure include a compact zone development for the city, as formulated by the city planning agency, and a polycentric city set-up based on a job-housing balance aimed at minimizing the house-job distance. The results indicate that the polycentric city structure has the potential to make public transport work successfully for the city of Surabaya. This city structure creates a trip demand pattern which matches citizens’ PT preferences. Compared to the current situation, the combination of such a city structure with an expansion of PT systems would lead to a considerable improvement of transport performance, i.e. a PT mode share, a mean commute distance, and a significant reduction in emissions.     

A forecast air pollution model applied to a hypothetical urban road pricing scheme: An empirical study in Madrid

Reducing the air pollution from increases in traffic congestion in large cities and their surroundings is an important problem that requires changes in travel behavior. Road pricing is an effective tool for reducing air pollution, as reflected currently urban road pricing outcomes (Singapore, London, Stockholm and Milan). A survey was conducted based on establishing a hypothetical urban road pricing system in Madrid (a random sample size n = 1298). We developed a forecast air pollution model with time series analysis to evaluate the consequences of possible air pollution decreases in Madrid. Results reveal that the hypothetical road pricing for Madrid could have highly significant effects on decreasing air pollution outside of the city and in the inner city during the peak operating time periods of maximum congestion (morning peak hours from 7:00 to 10:00 and evening peak hours from 18:00 to 20:00). Furthermore, this system could have significant positive effects on a shift toward using public transport and non-motorized modes inside the hypothetical toll zone. This reveals that the system has a high capacity to motivate a decrease in air pollution and impose more sustainable behavior for public transport users.     

Climate change mitigation and co-benefits of feasible transport demand policies in Beijing

Urban car transportation is a cause of climate change but is also associated with additional burdens such as traffic congestion and air pollution. Studies of external costs and potential impacts of travel demand management help to define policy instruments that mitigate the damaging impact of transportation. Here, we analyze different externalities of car transportation in Beijing and show that social costs induced by motorized transportation are equivalent to about 7.5–15.0% of Beijing’s GDP. Congestion and air pollution contribute the most with climate change costs being the most uncertain. We show that a road charge could not only address congestion but also has environmental benefits. The paper investigates the role of demand elasticities and demonstrates that joint demand and supply-side policies provide considerable synergies.     

From willingness to action: Do push-pull-mooring factors matter for shifting to green transportation?

Motivating individuals to choose green transportation is becoming increasingly important. Based on push-pull-mooring framework, this study aims to explore how push, pull and mooring factors foster individual’s willingness to shift to green transportation. This study also analyzes the role of information provision in narrowing the gap between shifting willingness and behavior. The findings revealed that push factors, including perceived environmental threats and perceived inconvenience, drive individual’s mode-shift away from private cars, whereas the pull factors, including green transport policies and campaigns, and green transport system attract individual’s mode-shift to green transportation. Moreover, the mooring factor, namely inertia, not only negatively affects individual’s shifting willingness but also negatively moderates the effects of push and pull factors on individual’s shifting willingness. In addition, shifting willingness positively affects the shifting behavior and the information provision positively moderates the relationship among them. Such findings are vital to achieve the realization of China’s low-carbon goals.     

Do modes of transportation and GPS affect cognitive maps of Londoners?

Legibility has long been recognized as an important factor in creating a good image of a city in individuals’ minds. This image is perceived to assist people in understanding the city, finding their way, and recalling the city. The quality of the image affects individuals’ abilities in way-finding. This is especially important for cosmopolitan and global cities such as London in order to preserve resources and time, manage travel costs, limit pollution (air or noise) and enhance these cities as places to live, work and visit. This research examines the cognitive maps of London drawn by a sample of its residents to discover how different modes of transportation and GPS usage could affect individuals’ urban images. Such research is useful for town planners, local government departments, and urban and transport planners because of the way it considers the legibility of London as and provides a tool to study individuals’ urban images. 101 participants were recruited with at least a two-year residency from both genders (38.6% females and 61.4% males) with the average age of 33.88 and S.D. = 10.63. The results suggest car use has a positive correlation with seeing London in city scale and GPS usage has a negative correlation. Whilst recent studies have shown that there are differences between active travel modes (e.g., walking, bicycle riding or driving a car) and passive modes (e.g., as a passenger taking a bus, train or taxi), this study indicates that GPS usage also influences cognitive maps, with a negative correlation found between GPS usage and drawing maps on a city scale. Other significant associations were found for the car drivers with a positive relation with the number of roads mentioned on the maps, seeing London in city scale and having a two-dimensional façade image of the city in mind.     

A comparison of the sustainability of public and private transportation systems: Study of the Greater Toronto Area

A macroscopic assessment of the impacts of private and public transportation systems on the sustainability of the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) is undertaken from economic, environmental and social perspectives. The methodology draws upon the urban metabolism and sustainability indicators approaches to assessing urban sustainability, but compares modes in terms of passenger-kms. In assessing the economic sustainability of a city, transportation should be recognized as a product, a driver and a cost. In 1993, the traded costs of automobile use in the GTA were approximately balanced by the value of the automobile parts and assembly industry. But local transit costs 1/3 to 1/6 of the auto costs per person-km, in traded dollars, mainly because local labour is the primary cost.Public transportation is more sustainable from an environmental perspective. Automobile emissions are a major contributor to air pollution, which is a serious contemporary environmental health problem in Toronto. Public transportation modes are less energy intensive (including indirect energy consumption) and produce CO₂ at an order of magnitude lower, although these benefits are partially undermined by under-utilization of transit capacity and the source of electricity generation.The social benefits of automobile use are likely more significant than costs in determining GTA residents' preferential mode choice. The speed and access of auto use provide important economic benefits, e.g. relating to employment and product choice. Nevertheless, offsetting the service attributes of private transportation are large social costs in terms of accidents. The costs of automobile insurance provide one tangible measure of such negative impacts.In order to improve the sustainability of the GTA, innovative approaches are required for improving the performance level of public transportation or substantially reducing the need for the service level provided by automobiles. Efforts such as greater integration of bicycles with public transit, or construction of light-rail systems in wide roadways, might be considered. But to be sustainable overall, a transportation system has to be flexible and adaptable and so must combine a mixture of modes.     

内河小型船舶电力推进系统助推西部绿色航运

＂滇游1号＂电力推进客渡船是应用西部交通建设科技项目＂内河小型船舶电力推进系统研制＂成果制造的示范船。该船环保性能优越,能够有效遏制航运船舶对空气及水体的污染,有利于保护高原湖库区水域环境,可满足西部地区对环保型绿色航运船舶的迫切需求,对实现水路交通事业的健康可持续发展具有重要的现实意义。     

Sustainability: A vital concept for transportation planning and development

The current pattern of metropolitan transportation and land development in the majority of countries around the world appears to be increasingly unsustainable from both an economical and environmental perspective. Many factors point to the need for adoption of a new paradigm for sustainable transportation and development in both high and low income countries—burgeoning populations, growing air pollution, limits on global petroleum reserves, limited physical and economic capacity to expand automobile-based transportation systems without community destruction, and the urgent need to limit global CO₂ emissions to slow the pace of global warming. This paper outlines some of the conceptual differences between the current paradigm for transportation planning and an emerging paradigm for sustainable transportation and land development. It compares the US and European patterns of transport and land development, which often inspire transportation decision-makers and planners in developing countries. The paper reviews the patterns of development in the cities of several developing countries, identifying policies than can enhance sustainability.     

Towards a better management of urban traffic pollution using a Pareto max flow approach

Rising levels of air pollution is a major concern across many parts of the world. In this article, we develop a transportation policy to handle air pollution caused by the heavy flow of traffic in urban areas. In particular, we aim to distribute the traffic flow more evenly through a city, by developing a flow algorithm that computes multiple solutions, each of which accommodates the maximum flow. The paper makes the following contributions to build such a transportation policy: (a) Develops a Pareto-optimal Max Flow Algorithm (PMFA) to suggest multiple max flow solutions. (b) Introduces the notion of k-optimality into PMFA to ensure that the suggested pareto solutions are sufficiently distinct from each other – referred to as Pareto-k-optimal Max Flow Algorithm (k-PMFA). (c) Through a series of experiments performed using the well-known traffic simulator SUMO and by doing emission modeling on the New York map, we could show that our policy distributes the air pollution more uniformly across locations.     

Spatial and temporal distribution of expressway and its relationships to land cover and population: A case study of Beijing,China

The interaction between urban transport, land cover change and the distribution of population is a typical manifestation of the urbanization process. As high-grade road, expressway plays a significant role in promoting resource circulation and economic development. Based on the road distribution, land cover and population census data, this study specifically probed the relationship between the expressways and the land cover and population of Beijing. The results show that: (1) as the distance from an expressway increases, the amount of built-up land gradually decreased, and the transfer of land cover near the expressway was more intensive and frequent when compared with that of the whole city; (2) In 2010, a district that was less than 3 km from both sides of the expressway and which occupies one-quarter of the entire city had concentrations of 42% industrial land, 58% of settlement land, and 76% transportation land of the entire city; (3) As for Beijing, the population density was positively correlated to road density, and population density declined with a corresponding increase in buffer distance; (4) The ring area between the Fifth and the Sixth Ring Road featured the greatest density of expressways and the most dramatic changes in both land cover and population. According to our study, there’s a positive interactive feedback relationship between the expressways, land cover and population of Beijing. Also, due to the concentration of population, industry and transport system around the expressways, special attention should be paid to environmental pollution and the inhabitants’ health in this area.     

Optimization Of Headway,Vehicle Size and Route Choice for Minimum Cost Feeder Service

ABSTRACT

Many people use public transportation systems to reach their destination, while others use personal vehicles. Poor transportation systems do not attract ridership. Therefore, the usage of passenger cars increases, and traffic and environmental conditions deteriorate. Efficient public transportation has been recognized as one of the potential ways of mitigating air pollution, reducing energy consumption, improving mobility and alleviating traffic congestion. The objective of this study is to optimize a bus feeder service that provides the shuttle service between a recreation center (e.g. Sandy Hook, NJ) and a major public transportation facility, subject to site-specific constraints such as vehicle schedules, bus availability, service capacity and budget. The decision variables include bus headway, vehicle size and route choice. The solution methodology integrating both analytical and numerical techniques is developed, which optimizes the decision variables. Finally, the proposed solution methodology is applied to a case study. Numerical results, including optimal solutions and sensitivity analyses, are presented while the level of coordination between the feeder service and a major transportation service is discussed.     

Expert versus lay perception of the risks of motor vehicle-generated air pollution

We explore whether experts’ perceptions of risk differ systematically from those of the public. To do so, we examine whether experts and non-experts make different location decisions in response to ground-level ozone pollution, one of the byproducts of motorized transportation. Physicians are experts in the field of health, and thus may differ from their lay neighbors in their knowledge of and attitude toward pollution and its health risks. If so, it is possible that they value locations with cleaner air differently than their neighbors do. Here we use hedonic price models based on willingness to bear housing and commute burdens to examine the differential valuation of clean air by doctors and laypeople in the Los Angeles region between 1980 and 2000. We find no evidence that doctors are more or less more willing than comparable lay residents to trade off time or money to live in cleaner-air neighborhoods.     

Policy innovations of the US intermodal surface transportation efficiency act and clean air act amendments

In combination, the Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 (ISTEA) and the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 (CAAA) are innovative and aggressive efforts to move US cities toward integrated transportation and air quality planning. Under these complementary laws, air quality has become a major national transportation goal. In areas with serious air pollution, air quality will be a major consideration in determining the future shape of urban transportation.This paper considers how the CAAA and ISTEA combine to provide an innovative national policy approach of interest to countries seeking to encourage sustainable development in urban centers. The CAAA mandates measurable and enforceable air quality targets. Nation-wide standards are set for acceptable levels of carbon monoxide, ground level ozone, and small particulates. ISTEA includes directions for transportation planners and decision-makers to follow to reach air quality and other goals — transportation planning must emphasize system efficiency, and for cities with severe air pollution, transportation projects are expected to contribute to cleaner air. Each urban area has flexibility in how it applies this framework to reflect its priorities and solve its problems. Strict federal sanctions provide incentives for compliance with both laws.Enactment of these laws has produced a period of transition and uncertainty as well as of challenge and opportunity for planners and elected officials. The next several years, the US will provide one national laboratory and over 100 different urban laboratories for innovative approaches to integrate transportation and environmental policies to resolve major urban problems.Abbreviations CAAA Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 - CO Carbon monoxide - ECO Employee Commute Option - EPA US Environmental Protection Agency - HC Transportation hydrocarbons - I/M Inspections and maintenance program - ISTEA Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 - MPO Metropolitan planning organizations - NO_x Nitrogen oxides - PPM Parts per million - PM₁₀ Small particulate matter - SIP State Implementation Plan - TIP Transportation Improvement Program - TCM Transportation control measures - VMT Vehicle miles traveled     

Factors affecting electric vehicle sharing program participants’ attitudes about car ownership and program participation

There are growing concerns on traffic congestion, climate change and parking problems in major cities. Faced with these concerns, policy makers have sought sustainable transportation options including electric vehicle sharing programs (EVSPs). The city of Seoul with 10 million people also has recently launched an EVSP to provide citizens with an alternative travel mode. This study attempts to explore factors affecting the EVSP participants’ attitudes about car ownership and program participation. To do this, a web-based survey was conducted for the participants of the Seoul EVSP, asking their satisfaction levels for the components of the EVSP. Then, using 533 responses of 1772 EVSP members (a response rate of 30%), ordered probit models were developed for three types of attitudes: (1) willingness to dispose of a car, (2) willingness to purchase an EV and (3) willingness to continue participating in the EVSP. The estimated models suggested that participants’ social and economic perspectives were the most important factors affecting the participants’ attitudes. In addition, the attitudes varied depending on personal characteristics such as gender, age and income. Although this study was conducted in the early stage of an EVSP, its results are expected to provide insights into a better EVSP design.     

Traffic Noise in Europe: A Comparison of Calculation Methods,Noise Indices and Noise Standards for Road and Railroad Traffic in Europe

The demand for inland freight transport in Europe is mainly met by road transport, leading to unsustainable impacts such as air pollution, greenhouse gas emissions and congestion. Since rail transport has lower externalities than road transport, a modal shift from road to rail is an accepted policy goal for achieving a more sustainable and competitive transport system. However, intermodal road–rail transport is mainly competitive for long-distance transport, and as a consequence, the potential for modal shift is limited. The cost efficiency of road–rail intermodal transport is particularly sensitive to pre- and post-haulage (PPH) costs, since this activity typically has a larger cost compared with its share of the total distance in the transport chain. For intermodal transportation over shorter distances, for example, below 300 km and where there are substantial PPH activities at both ends of the chain, the competitiveness of the intermodal transport system compared with that of direct road is low. Improving the efficiency of PPH activities is, therefore, of utmost importance for the competitiveness of the intermodal transport system. This paper looks into the issue of improving the cost efficiency of an intermodal transport chain by implementing an innovative and flexible legal framework regarding the PPH activities in the chain. By extending the legal framework with exemptions for longer vehicles in PPH, the cost efficiency could be greatly improved. The purpose of such a framework is to allow and enable, for PPH exclusively, the use of 2?×?40 foot or even two semi-trailers using only one vehicle in the context of the Swedish regulatory framework. This paper develops a strategic calculation model for assessing and investigating the consequences of such a framework and investigates the framework's potential in terms of cost efficiency. The model in combination with a sensitivity analysis of input variables gives a comprehensive understanding of the effects of PPH under different circumstances. From the results, it is evident that there are substantial positive effects associated with a PPH framework of longer vehicles. Results indicate that a typical shipper may experience cost reductions of about 5–10% of the total costs of the intermodal transport chain. In summary, a more innovative and flexible legal framework regarding vehicle length in the PPH links can contribute to a greater modal shift, improved cost efficiency and more environmentally friendly transportation systems.     

Designing a route planner to facilitate and promote cycling in Metro Vancouver,Canada

With increasing fuel costs, greater awareness of greenhouse gas emissions and increasing obesity levels, cycling is promoted as a health promoting and sustainable transport mode. We developed a cycling route planner (http://cyclevancouver.ubc.ca) for Metro Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, to facilitate cycling amongst the general public and to facilitate new route location by transportation planners. The geographical information system-based planner incorporates variables that influence choices to travel by bicycle (e.g., distance, elevation gain, safety, route features, air pollution and links to transit) in selecting the preferred routing. Using a familiar and user-friendly Google Maps interface, the planner allows individuals to seek optimized cycling routes throughout the region based on their own preferences. In addition to the incorporation of multiple user preferences in route selection, the planner is unique amongst cycling route planners in its use of topology to minimize data storage redundancy, its reliance on node/vertex index tables to increase efficiency of the route selection process, and the use of web services and asynchronous technologies for quick data delivery. Use of this tool can help promote bicycle travel as a form of active transportation and help lower greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO₂) and air pollutant emissions by reducing car trips.     

Accounting for systematic heterogeneity across car commuters in response to multiple TDM policies: case study of Tehran

Modeling commuters’ choice behavior in response to transportation demand management (TDM) helps in predicting the consequences of TDM policies. Although research looking at choice behavior has evolved to investigate preference heterogeneity in response to factors influencing mode choice, as far as we know, no study has considered taste variation across commuters in response to multiple TDM policies. This paper investigates the presence of systematic preference heterogeneity across commuters, in response to the TDM policies that can be explained by their socio-economic or commuting-related characteristics. Analysis is based on results of a stated preference survey developed using a Design of Experiments approach. Five policies were assessed in order to study the impact they had on how commuters chose their mode of transportation. These include increasing parking cost, increasing fuel cost, implementing cordon pricing, reducing transit time and improving access to transit facilities. For the sake of assessing both systematic and random preference heterogeneity across car commuters, a form of the Mixed Multinomial Logit (MMNL) model that identifies sources of heterogeneity and consequently makes the choice models less restrictive in considering both systematic and random preference variation across individuals was developed. The sample includes 366 individuals who regularly commute to their workplace in the city center of Tehran, Iran. The likelihood function value of this model shows a significant improvement compared to the base MNL model, using the same variables. The MMNL model shows that taste variation across the studied commuters results in differences in influences estimated for three policies: increasing parking cost, reducing transit time and improving access to transit. The analysis examines several distributions for random parameters to test the impacts of restricting distributions to allow for only normality. The results confirm the potential to improve model fit with alternative distributions.