scholarly journals OP90 An evaluation of the impact of the 20mph speed limits in the City of Edinburgh on road traffic casualty and collision rates

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
GF Nightingale ◽  
AJ Williams ◽  
J Woodcock ◽  
P Kelly ◽  
K Kokka ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Road Traffic ◽  
Speed Limits ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

scholarly journals Extracting Road Traffic Volume in the City before and during covid-19 through Video Remote Sensing

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 2329
Author(s):  
Elżbieta Macioszek ◽  
Agata Kurek
Keyword(s):  
Travel Behavior ◽  
Traffic Management ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Traffic Volume ◽  
The Road ◽  
Traffic Characteristics ◽  
Annual Average Daily Traffic ◽  
On The Road ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

Continuous, automatic measurements of road traffic volume allow the obtaining of information on daily, weekly or seasonal fluctuations in road traffic volume. They are the basis for calculating the annual average daily traffic volume, obtaining information about the relevant traffic volume, or calculating indicators for converting traffic volume from short-term measurements to average daily traffic volume. The covid-19 pandemic has contributed to extensive social and economic anomalies worldwide. In addition to the health consequences, the impact on travel behavior on the transport network was also sudden, extensive, and unpredictable. Changes in the transport behavior resulted in different values of traffic volume on the road and street network than before. The article presents road traffic volume analysis in the city before and during the restrictions related to covid-19. Selected traffic characteristics were compared for 2019 and 2020. This analysis made it possible to characterize the daily, weekly and annual variability of traffic volume in 2019 and 2020. Moreover, the article attempts to estimate daily traffic patterns at particular stages of the pandemic. These types of patterns were also constructed for the weeks in 2019 corresponding to these stages of the pandemic. Daily traffic volume distributions in 2020 were compared with the corresponding ones in 2019. The obtained results may be useful in terms of planning operational and strategic activities in the field of traffic management in the city and management in subsequent stages of a pandemic or subsequent pandemics.

scholarly journals The impact of ship emissions on air quality and human health in the Gothenburg area – Part 1: 2012 emissions

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (12) ◽  
pp. 7509-7530 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin Tang ◽  
Martin O. P. Ramacher ◽  
Jana Moldanová ◽  
Volker Matthias ◽  
Matthias Karl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Air Quality ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Ship Emissions ◽  
The North ◽  
Relative Contribution ◽  
Premature Deaths ◽  
The North Sea ◽  
The Baltic ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

Abstract. Ship emissions in and around ports are of interest for urban air quality management in many harbour cities. We investigated the impact of regional and local ship emissions on urban air quality for 2012 conditions in the city of Gothenburg, Sweden, the largest cargo port in Scandinavia. In order to assess the effects of ship emissions, a coupled regional- and local-scale model system has been set up using ship emissions in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea as well as in and around the port of Gothenburg. Ship emissions were calculated with the Ship Traffic Emission Assessment Model (STEAM), taking into account individual vessel characteristics and vessel activity data. The calculated contributions from local and regional shipping to local air pollution in Gothenburg were found to be substantial, especially in areas around the city ports. The relative contribution from local shipping to annual mean NO2 concentrations was 14 % as the model domain average, while the relative contribution from regional shipping in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea was 26 %. In an area close to the city terminals, the contribution of NO2 from local shipping (33 %) was higher than that of road traffic (28 %), which indicates the importance of controlling local shipping emissions. Local shipping emissions of NOx led to a decrease in the summer mean O3 levels in the city by 0.5 ppb (∼2 %) on average. Regional shipping led to a slight increase in O3 concentrations; however, the overall effect of regional and the local shipping together was a small decrease in the summer mean O3 concentrations in the city. In addition, volatile organic compound (VOC) emissions from local shipping compensate up to 4 ppb of the decrease in summer O3 concentrations due to the NO titration effect. For particulate matter with a median aerodynamic diameter less than or equal to 2.5 µm (PM2.5), local ship emissions contributed only 3 % to the annual mean in the model domain, while regional shipping under 2012 conditions was a larger contributor, with an annual mean contribution of 11 % of the city domain average. Based on the modelled local and regional shipping contributions, the health effects of PM2.5, NO2 and ozone were assessed using the ALPHA-RiskPoll (ARP) model. An effect of the shipping-associated PM2.5 exposure in the modelled area was a mean decrease in the life expectancy by 0.015 years per person. The relative contribution of local shipping to the impact of total PM2.5 was 2.2 %, which can be compared to the 5.3 % contribution from local road traffic. The relative contribution of the regional shipping was 10.3 %. The mortalities due to the exposure to NO2 associated with shipping were calculated to be 2.6 premature deaths yr−1. The relative contribution of local and regional shipping to the total exposure to NO2 in the reference simulation was 14 % and 21 %, respectively. The shipping-related ozone exposures were due to the NO titration effect leading to a negative number of premature deaths. Our study shows that overall health impacts of regional shipping can be more significant than those of local shipping, emphasizing that abatement policy options on city-scale air pollution require close cooperation across governance levels. Our findings indicate that the strengthened Sulphur Emission Control Areas (SECAs) fuel sulphur limit from 1 % to 0.1 % in 2015, leading to a strong decrease in the formation of secondary particulate matter on a regional scale was an important step in improving the air quality in the city.

scholarly journals ECONOMIC ASPECTS OF THE CITY TRAFFIC NOISE: CASE STUDY // EKONOMSKI ASPEKTI BUKE OD GRADSKOG SAOBRAĆAJA: STUDIJA SLUČAJA

2018 ◽  
Vol 15 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Jelena Božić ◽  
Predrag Ilić ◽  
Ljiljana Stojanović Bjelić
Keyword(s):  
Noise Level ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Scientific Evidence ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Noise Pollution ◽  
Common Denominator ◽  
Economic Implications ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

Noise pollution is one of the main environmental problems today.The main source of environmental noise is traffic noise, especially the noise of road vehicles. The continuing expansion of motorized transport in Europe and Republic of Srpska today, and especially the sharp increase in the use of private cars raises concerns about the health risks.The aim of the case study was to determine the noise level at the location „Borik“ in Banja Luka. The measured values indicate that the noise level in this street is alarming. This paper discusses health and well-being related impacts of traffic noise pollution as well as the economic and social benefits associated with its reduction. It summarizes the latest scientific evidence on the impact of road traffic-induced noise on physical and mental health as a reaction to the high level of traffic noise risks. According to the scientific evidence, road traffic is the main source of noise pollution in Europe that cause harmful health such as impaired communication and disturbed sleep, as well as adverse after effects such as fatigue and decreased performance, annoyance, hearing impairment, ischemic heart disease and hypertension. The effects of unhealthy noise level are reflected on living and working conditions, consequently affecting the economy.This paper highlights economic implications and health benefits linked to cross-functionalities in the process of noise reduction in urbanism, architecture and vehicle design and methods for its evaluation. Cost-benefit analysis would be a pivotal decision-making tool for the city road traffic and land-use decisions. Economic valuation is about identifying all preferences and translating them into a money measure, to create a common denominator for comparing the pros and cons. Any decision implicitly include a money value into health effects. A holistic approach is crucial, considering the various health and economic consequences together.

scholarly journals Environmental Problems Caused by Motor Vehicles in and Around the City of Sumgait

2021 ◽  
pp. 79-84
Author(s):  
Гюльнар Нуру Гаджиева
Keyword(s):  
Human Health ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Negative Impact ◽  
Action Plan ◽  
Statistical Characteristics ◽  
Motor Vehicles ◽  
Systematic Analysis ◽  
Surrounding Areas ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

The purpose is to study the impact of motor vehicles passing through the city on human health and the environment and to develop an action plan to prevent negative processes in the city of Sumgait. Materials and methods. The negative impact of motor vehicles on the environment was studied using GIS technologies, historical and geographical, mathematical-statistical, comparative, observation, systematic analysis and other methods. Results and discussion. The article calculates the length of existing roads in Sumgait, the number of motor vehicles (cars, trucks and buses) passing through the city during the year, the amount of waste each of them emits to the surrounding areas, especially to the atmosphere. In addition, their impact on soil and vegetation, as well as on human health, has been studied. The results were analysed and compared with the established sanitary standards for their exceedance. Statistical characteristics of the level of pollution have been calculated. The analysis of the data obtained from the measurements led to conclusions about the insufficient effectiveness of structures that reduce the level of pollution only at distances of 100 and 150 m from the sources. Conclusion. In the considered areas, it is necessary to take measures to protect the population from road traffic pollution. In these measures, special attention was paid to creating favourable conditions for people to live in a cleaner environment.

scholarly journals A MATHEMATICAL MODEL TO SET SPEED LIMITS FOR VEHICLES ON THE HIGHWAY

Transport ◽  
2006 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 278-283 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sunday Ayoola Oke ◽  
Ayokunle Bamigbaiye ◽  
Oluwafemi Isaac Oyedokun ◽  
Oliver Ekpere Charles-Owaba
Keyword(s):  
Mathematical Model ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Impact Force ◽  
Speed Limits ◽  
Safety Feature ◽  
Road Users ◽  
Cause Of Deaths ◽  
The Impact

The purpose of this paper is to develop a mathematical model that could guide certain speed limits for vehicles on roads. Excessive speeds on roads have been a major indirect cause of deaths on highways due to the sudden impact of vehicles that lead to accidents. The model presented here is developed on a measure of impact force of two vehicles engaged in a head‐on collision. A hypothetical case study was investigated based on the impact of force on the human body. The results showed a variation of speed with occupation position distance. The paper also examines the role of seatbelt as a safety feature for vehicle occupants. Practically, developing a quantitative approach for evaluating the impacts of speed would help road regulatory authorities in reducing accidents and deaths on roads. It would also assist them in tracking “road traffic offenders” by setting controls to which road users must conform.

scholarly journals The “sound of silence” in Granada during the COVID-19 lockdown

Noise Mapping ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-31 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jerónimo Vida Manzano ◽  
José Antonio Almagro Pastor ◽  
Rafael García Quesada ◽  
Francesco Aletta ◽  
Tin Oberman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Activity ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Traffic Noise ◽  
Environmental Noise ◽  
Road Traffic Noise ◽  
Noise Levels ◽  
Noise Sources ◽  
Comparison Results ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

Abstract Exceptional circumstances in the city of Granada due to the COVID-19 lockdown have provided the opportunity to characterise the impact of humans on its urban acoustic climate. Traditional environmental noise management and urban sound planning usually take into account noise sources in the city, such as industrial activities or road traffic noise, in model estimations, as well as in empirical research. But trying to isolate human impact by itself, human activity including social activity, walking, talking or just going around the city, has always been a difficult or even impossible task. The COVID-19 lockdown measures have provided the opportunity to study urban climate as never before, affected just by natural or animal noise sources. Previous soundscape research at some iconic sites in the city of Granada carried out in 2019 before the lockdown and a special measuring campaign carried out at the same locations during the lockdown in 2020 offered valuable information on sound levels and local characteristics in order to carry out this comparison. Results show a great change in environmental noise levels that is interesting not only because of its magnitude, but also for its implications, especially at those sites where social human activity was an identifying characteristic. Natural or animal sounds became surprisingly evident at some study sites, especially where road traffic noise dramatically decreased, leading to significantly lower background noise levels. Important spectral changes are observed before and during the lockdown, suggesting a shift from anthropic to animal sources in the acoustic environment.

scholarly journals Assessing the Impact of Road Traffic Externalities on Residential Price Values: A Case Study in Madrid, Spain

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (24) ◽  
pp. 5149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Francisco Guijarro
Keyword(s):  
Road Traffic ◽  
Positive Impact ◽  
Hedonic Model ◽  
Traffic Intensity ◽  
Traffic Measurement ◽  
Residential Properties ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
The City

This paper describes a study of the relationship between undesired road traffic externalities and residential price values in the Spanish city of Madrid. A large database was gathered, including the price and characteristics of 21,634 flats and road traffic intensity at 3904 different points across the city. The results obtained by a hedonic model suggest that both distance from the traffic measurement point and average daily traffic are significantly related to the price of residential properties, even after controlling for structural and neighbourhood variables. Distance to traffic areas has a positive impact on dwelling prices, whilst these are negatively related to traffic intensity.

scholarly journals OLYMPUS v1.0: Development of an integrated air pollutant and GHG urban emissions model – Methodology and calibration over the greater Paris

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arthur Elessa Etuman ◽  
Isabelle Coll
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Travel Demand ◽  
Road Traffic ◽  
Air Pollutant ◽  
Atmospheric Environment ◽  
Health Economy ◽  
Unit Energy ◽  
European Environmental Agency ◽  
The Impact ◽  
The City

Abstract. Air pollutants and greenhouse gases have many effects on health, economy, urban climate and atmospheric environment. At the city level, the transport and heating sectors contribute significantly to air pollution. In order to quantify the impact of urban policies on anthropogenic air pollutants, the main processes leading to emissions need to be understood: they mainly include mobility for work and leisure and household behavior, themselves impacted by a variety of social parameters. In this context, the Olympus modeling platform has been designed for environmental decision support. It generates a synthetic population of individuals and defines the mobility of each individual in the city through an activity-based approach of the travel demand. The model then spatializes road traffic taking into account congestion on the road network. It also includes a module that estimates the energy demand of the territory by calculating the unit energy consumption of households and the tertiary sector. Finally, the emissions associated with all the modeled activities are calculated using the COPERT emission factors for the traffic, and the European Environmental Agency (EEA) methodology for heating-related combustions. The comparison of emissions with AIRPARIF's regional inventory shows discrepancies that are consistent with differences in assumptions and input data, mainly in the sense of underestimation. The methodological choices, as well as the potential ways of improvement, including the refinement of traffic congestion modeling and of the transport of goods, are discussed.

scholarly journals Evaluating the citywide Edinburgh 20mph speed limit intervention effects on traffic speed and volume: A pre-post observational evaluation

PLoS ONE ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. e0261383
Author(s):  
Glenna F. Nightingale ◽  
Andrew James Williams ◽  
Ruth F. Hunter ◽  
James Woodcock ◽  
Kieran Turner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Road Traffic ◽  
Statistical Significance ◽  
Evidence Base ◽  
Time Of Day ◽  
Contributory Factor ◽  
Speed Limit ◽  
Volume Data ◽  
Speed Limits ◽  
Traffic Speed ◽  
The City

Objectives Traffic speed is important to public health as it is a major contributory factor to collision risk and casualty severity. 20mph (32km/h) speed limit interventions are an increasingly common approach to address this transport and health challenge, but a more developed evidence base is needed to understand their effects. This study describes the changes in traffic speed and traffic volume in the City of Edinburgh, pre- and 12 months post-implementation of phased city-wide 20mph speed limits from 2016–2018. Methods The City of Edinburgh Council collected speed and volume data across one full week (24 hours a day) pre- and post-20mph speed limits for 66 streets. The pre- and post-speed limit intervention data were compared using measures of central tendency, dispersion, and basic t-tests. The changes were assessed at different aggregations and evaluated for statistical significance (alpha = 0.05). A mixed effects model was used to model speed reduction, in the presence of key variables such as baseline traffic speed and time of day. Results City-wide, a statistically significant reduction in mean speed of 1.34mph (95% CI 0.95 to 1.72) was observed at 12 months post-implementation, representing a 5.7% reduction. Reductions in speed were observed throughout the day and across the week, and larger reductions in speed were observed on roads with higher initial speeds. Mean 7-day volume of traffic was found to be lower by 86 vehicles (95% CI: -112 to 286) representing a reduction of 2.4% across the city of Edinburgh (p = 0.39) but with the direction of effect uncertain. Conclusions The implementation of the city-wide 20mph speed limit intervention was associated with meaningful reductions in traffic speeds but not volume. The reduction observed in road traffic speed may act as a mechanism to lessen the frequency and severity of collisions and casualties, increase road safety, and improve liveability.

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