Title: Effects of traffic-related control strategies on urban air quality

Authors: Manfred Seika, Roy M. Harrison, Norbert Metz

Addresses: BMW AG, Department of Energy and Environment, W-2, 80788 Munich, Germany. Institute of Public and Environmental Health, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK. BMW AG, Department of Energy and Environment, W-2, 80788 Munich, Germany.

Abstract: An urban air quality management model called SEM has been applied to the urban areas of London and Berlin for the year 1993. Using detailed information on emissions (one and ten kilometre grid network), the road network, vehicle fleet composition, travel behaviour and meteorology, the model predicts annual average air quality at a central monitoring site and inside a nearby street canyon. Considered are all traffic and non-traffic emission sources of CO, NMVOC, C6H6, NOx and PM10 with a modelling domain of 100 km by 100 km around the city. A range of traffic-related control strategies, mostly hypothetical scenarios, were tested. These include changes in engine technology (e.g. replacing non-catalyst by catalyst cars) and trip reduction scenarios (e.g. a 10% decrease in the total number of commuter vehicle trips from outside Greater London into Central London). The predicted variations in long-term air quality have been analysed for the monitoring sites London Bloomsbury and Berlin Mitte, as well as inside the two Street canyons Regent Street and Franzosische Strasse. The results of the modelling exercise are discussed and different forms of traffic-related control strategies compared to one another.

Keywords: air quality management; atmospheric dispersion model; Berlin; London; urban air quality.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.1998.001839

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 1998 Vol.20 No.1/2/3/4, pp.313-325

Published online: 18 Aug 2003 *

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