scholarly journals The efficiency of the fare-free public transport for the air pollution reduction

2020 ◽  
Vol 2020 (8) ◽  
pp. 9-15
Author(s):  
Mikulski Maciej

The article presents the problem of air pollution in polish cities on the example of Cracow. The focus was on one of the corrective actions taken by the city – free-fare public transport during high air pollution. Changes in the city's approach to this service since 2015 and consequences for the city budget were presented. Then, the efficiency of free-fare public transport in attracting new passengers was considered. The example of the Nysa town was cited, which introduced such permission for car drivers, but withdrew it three years later. In the next step, the concentration of air pollution before and after the activation of free-fare public transport in the heating season 2018/2019 was analyzed. Particulate matter PM10, nitrogen oxide and carbon monoxide were taken into account. There was no constant relationship between the changes in the level of these pollutants in the air and the full-paid (or fare-free) public transport. There is also no reason for the need to change parameters based on witch the fare-free public transport is activated. Finally, the necessity of further efforts of central and local authorities to improve air quality as well as further research on sources of air pollution and efficiency of undertaken actions was emphasized. Keywords: fare-free public transport, air pollution, environmental protection

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Przemysław Furman ◽  
Alicja Skiba ◽  
Lucyna Samek ◽  
Mirosław Zimnoch ◽  
Magdalena Kistler ◽  
...  

<p>Recent years have brought a significant increase in public awareness of the issue of poor air quality in Poland. It is understandable that this problem has a direct impact on the quality of life of citizens of this country. Over the last few decades a concern over the health effects associated with air pollution was growing, mainly due to their carcinogenic and mutagenic properties. Various actions initiated by non-governmental organizations forced the authorities to undertake certain measures aimed at improving the quality of air in Poland, which, in the reports of the European Environment Agency is listed as one of the most polluted countries in the entire European Union. A model example here is the Krakow agglomeration. The city, located in a basin extending in the Vistula valley, surrounded on three sides by hills, in the cold period of the year struggles with the problem of poor air quality (very high concentrations of particulate matter and benzo(a)pyrene).</p><p>The objective of this research was better characterization of two major elements responsible for poor air quality in Krakow agglomeration: existing sources of pollution and  local meteorology during heating season (HS) and  non-heating season (NHS). Samples were collected with 24h resolution using Low-Vol samplers in Krakow (50°00'38.1"N 19°56'57.1"E, Kurdwanow, Malopolska, South Poland) from February 2014 to January 2015. Based on the results of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, cations, anions, mercury, organic and elemental carbon analyzes of samples of particulate matter collected in the city’s atmosphere, sources have been identified and classified them from the most to the least significant ones. The modeling tool Hybrid Single-Particle Lagrangian Integrated Trajectory model (HYSPLIT), developed by NOAA’s Air Resources Laboratory, was used to investigate the possible trajectories of air pollutants.</p><p>This research was partially financed by the AGH UST grant 16.16.210.476 subsidy of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education. PF and AS have been partly supported by the EU Project POWR.03.02.00-00-I004/16. The infrastructure of the AGH Center of Energy in Kraków was applied in order to determine the concentration of ions.</p>


Author(s):  
Janis Kleperis ◽  
Gunars Bajars ◽  
Ingrida Bremere ◽  
Martins Menniks ◽  
Arturs Viksna ◽  
...  

Air Quality in Riga and Its Improvement Options Air quality in the city of Riga is evaluated from direct monitoring results and from accounting registered air pollutants in the city. It is concluded that from all air polluting substances listed in the European Commission directives, only nitrogen dioxide NO2 and particulate matter PM10 exceed the limits. In assessing the projected measures to improve air quality in Riga, it can be concluded that the implementation of cleaner fuels and improvements in energy efficiency of household and industrial sectors will decrease particle pollution, but measures in the transport sector will also contribute to reducing air pollution from nitrogen oxides.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Farid RAHAL ◽  
Noureddine BENABADJI ◽  
Mohamed BENCHERIF ◽  
Mohamed Menaouer BENCHERIF

Abstract In Algeria, air pollution is classified as a major risk by the law. However, this risk is underestimated because there is no operational network for measuring air quality on a continuous basis.Despite the heavy investments made to equip several cities with these measurement systems, they are out of order due to a lack of continuous financial support.The alternative to the absence of these air pollution measurement networks can come from the recent development of electrochemical sensor technologies for air quality monitoring which arouses a certain interest because of their miniaturization, low energy consumption and low cost.We developed a low-cost outdoor carbon monoxide analyzer called APOMOS (Air pollution Monitoring System) based on electrochemical sensor managed by microcontroller. An application developed with the Python language makes it possible to manage process and analyze the collected data.In order to validate the APOMOS system, the recorded measurements are compared with measurements taken by a conventional analyzer.Comparison of the measurements resulting from conventional analyzer and those resulting from the APOMOS system gives a coefficient of determination of 98.39 %.Two versions of this system have been designed. A fixed version and another embedded, equipped with a GPS sensor. These 2 variants were used in the city of Oran in Algeria to measure the concentration of carbon monoxide continuously.The targeted pollutant is carbon monoxide. However, the design of the APOMOS system allows its evolution in an easy way in order to integrate other sensors concerning the various atmospheric pollutants.


Author(s):  
Wilhen Huaman Hinostroza ◽  
◽  
Brian Meneses Claudio ◽  
Alexi Delgado

One of the big problems in the city of Cerro de Pasco is the air pollution caused by the mining activity that occurs in this area, this activity generates a total of 3737 metric tons per year of particulate matter, which are thrown into the environment in an alarming way, thus reaching that this particulate matter can lodge inside the organism of the inhabitants permanently, causing in them diseases in the respiratory system, thus affecting the most vulnerable population, producing in them infections in the respiratory tract that can even carry those to death. Nowadays the teams that carry out the monitoring of air quality are restricted only to the academic and governmental sphere, so much so that the population does not know the degree of air pollution. For this reason, it is proposed to carry out a system to measure the level of air pollution taking as main data, the measurement of particulate matter and the emission of carbon monoxide, the data that can be recovered from these measurements to be able to compare them with the parameters dictated by the Ministry of the Environment. As a result, an autonomous system was obtained, with which the level of particulate matter, possible toxic gases, and the measurement of the level of carbon monoxide can be measured, all these pollutants that could be in the environment, all these measurements are constant, thus leading the population to become aware of the level of quality of the environment where they live. Keywords- Environmental pollution, articulated matter, carbon monoxide, toxic gases, mining activity, air quality


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anu Dahal ◽  
Indira Parajuli

Abstract Indoor Air Pollution (IAP) from smoky cooking fires causes deaths over 22,800 per year being the fourth leading cause of death in Nepal. The study aims to compare the pollution level particularly Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Particulate Matter (PM 2.5 ) in different firewood species. Two households one with ICS and TCS is selected purposively to monitor the concentration of pollutants in Ward no. 3 of Gatlang, Rasuwa, Nepal. IAP Meter based on Laser Sensor principle is used to monitor real time concentration of PM 2.5 and CO. 24 hours mean concentration of PM 2.5 and 8 hours mean average concentrations of CO are found to be above the WHO and National Indoor Air Quality Guidelines i.e. For ICS using household the concentration is found to be 155.26 µg/m 3 and 9 ppm respectively and household using TCS is found to be 385.12 µg/m 3 and 12.2 ppm). Both pollutants’ concentration is found less in Abies Spectabilis than other species. Positive correlation is found in both households along with moisture content, amount of firewood used, etc. This result suggests the use of Abies Spectabilis as it emits less emission as compared to other species as it has less moisture content that reduces the concentration of air pollution. Keywords : Carbon Monoxide 1 , Particulate Matter (PM 2.5 ) 2 , Indoor Air Pollution 3


2014 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
pp. 35-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
N.B. Dhital ◽  
W.T. Hung ◽  
R.M. Byanju

Owing to widespread road widening activities and the growing vehicular traffic, air quality of Kathmandu Valley has been a matter of grave concern. In this study, we monitored air quality inside public vehicles of Kathmandu Valley which would help assess the exposure of public transport users to air pollution. Problem of particulate pollution, especially PM10, was found severe inside the buses. Carbon monoxide and total volatile organic compounds were mostly within acceptable levels but benzene exceeded guidelines in few samples. Benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene (BTEX) were dominant among all detected volatile organic compounds. There was high degree of correlation among BTEX. Similarly, significant correlation was found between carbon monoxide and total volatile organic compounds. PM10 and PM2.5 were also significantly correlated suggesting common source of emission. Gaseous pollutants had significant negative correlation with traffic speed suggesting that traffic congestion (responsible for low traffic speed and high traffic density) is causing higher emission.


2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (18) ◽  
pp. 2885
Author(s):  
Janusz Kwiecień ◽  
Kinga Szopińska

Road traffic is among the main sources of atmospheric pollution in cities. Maps of pollutants are based on geostatistical models using a digital model of the city along with traffic parameters allowing for ongoing analyses and prediction of the condition of the environment. The aim of the work was to determine the size of areas at risk of carbon monoxide pollution derived from road traffic along with determining the number of inhabitants exposed to excessive CO levels using geostatistical modeling on the example of the city of Bydgoszcz, a city in the northern part of Poland. The COPERT STREET LEVEL program was used to calculate CO emissions. Next, based on geostatistical modelling, a prediction map of CO pollution (kg/year) was generated, along with determining the level of CO concentration (mg/m3/year). The studies accounted for the variability of road sources as well as the spatial structure of the terrain. The results are presented for the city as well as divided into individual housing estates. The level of total carbon monoxide concentration for the city was 5.18 mg/m3/year, indicating good air quality. Detailed calculation analyses showed that the level of air pollution with CO varies in the individual housing estates, ranging from 0.08 to 35.70 mg/m3/year. Out of the 51 studied residential estates, the limit value was exceeded in 10, with 45% of the population at risk of poor air quality. The obtained results indicate that only detailed monitoring of the level of pollution can provide us with reliable information on air quality. The results also show in what way geostatistical tools can be used to map the spatial variability of air pollution in a city. The obtained spatial details can be used to improve estimated concentration based on interpolation between direct observation and prediction models.


2020 ◽  
Vol 6 (4) ◽  
pp. 1377-1387
Author(s):  
Ume Laila ◽  
Najma Sadiq ◽  
Tahir Mehmood ◽  
Tooba Rehan Haqqi

Pakistan being in the list of developing countries has shown tremendous response towards the control of pandemic COVID-19. This paper evaluates the pre and post COVID 19 lockdown situation of air quality and provides an evidence of the air quality amid the lockdown and how it started to improve. The air quality indexes of three major cities of Pakistan i.e. Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore are compared, taking into account the indexes before and after the imposition of lockdown.  The city wide presence of major pollutants like Sulphur Dioxide and Nitrogen Dioxide also reduced. The results show how taking serious measures can help in reducing the air pollution and help the environment to restore.  Following analytical approach and situational analysis certain inferences have been drawn that the air quality index has worsen, and the atmospheric condition have turn out to be shoddier than the pre-pandemic situation. In the last section certain policy recommendations have been provided in order to maintain a healthy air quality.


2016 ◽  
Vol 73 (4) ◽  
pp. 326-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amelija Djordjevic ◽  
Goran Ristic ◽  
Nenad Zivkovic ◽  
Branimir Todorovic ◽  
Sladjan Hristov ◽  
...  

Background/Aim. Analysis of air quality in Serbia indicates that the city of Nis belongs to a group of cities characterized by the third category of air quality (excessive air pollution). The aim of the study was to analyze the degree of causality between ambient air quality affected by particulate matter of 10 ?m (PM10) and carbon monoxide (CO) and the incidence of respiratory diseases in preschool children in the city of Nis. Methods. We quantified the influence of higher PM10 concentrations and carbon monoxide comprising motor vehicle exhausts in the city of Nis on the occurrence of unwanted health effects in preschool children by means of the hazard quotient (HQ), individual health risk (Ri), and the probability of cancer (ICR). The methodology used was according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and it included basic scientific statistical methods, compilation methods, and the relevant mathematical methods for assessing air pollution health risk, based on the use of attribute equations. Results. Measurement of ambient air pollutant concentrations in the analyzed territory for the entire monitoring duration revealed that PM10 concentrations were significantly above the allowed limits during 80% of the days. The maximum measured PM10 concentration was 191.6 ?g/m3, and carbon monoxide 5.415 mg/m3. The incidence of respiratory diseases in the experimental group, with a prominent impact of polluted air was 57.17%, whereas the incidence in the control group was considerably lower, 41.10 %. There were also significant differences in the distribution of certain respiratory diseases. Conclusion. In order to perform good causal analysis of air quality and health risk, it is very important to establish and develop a system for long-term monitoring, control, assessment, and prediction of air pollution. We identified the suspended PM10 and CO as ambient air pollutants causing negative health effects in the exposed preschool children population.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vera Rodrigues ◽  
Carla Gama ◽  
Ana Ascenso ◽  
Kevin Oliveira ◽  
Sílvia Coelho ◽  
...  

<p><strong>European cities have made significant progress over the last decades towards a clean air. Despite all this progress, several urban areas are frequently exceeding air quality levels allowed by the European legal standards. The ClairCity project funded by the H2020 program addressed air pollution bringing a key missing factor in the way cities and societies organized themselves and work: citizens at the heart not only of the air pollution issues, but also of the solution, focusing on their behaviour, activities and practices. In this work, the ClairCity European pilot cities and regions (Bristol in the UK, Amsterdam in the Netherlands, Ljubljana in Slovenia, Sosnowiec in Poland, the Aveiro region in Portugal and the Liguria region around Genoa in Italy</strong><strong>) are studied in terms of air quality for a 10 year period regarding the main atmospheric pollutants over urban areas, namely particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide and ozone.</strong></p><p><strong>Therefore, the main objective of this work is to present a comprehensive diagnosis of the air quality and its main emission sources for each case study. The concentrations trends in the different typology of monitoring stations (background, traffic and industrial) were addressed, together with the knowledge of daily, weekly and seasonal pollution patterns to better understand the city specific profiles and to characterise pollutant dynamics and variations in multiple locations. </strong></p><p><strong>Each city/ region faces different issues and causes of air pollution, but all of these case studies have been working on to improve their air quality. In Bristol there have been strong downward trends in many air pollutants, but the levels of NO<sub>2</sub> remain persistently high and of concern, with transport the key contributor. PM on the other hand is not widely monitored in Bristol, but background levels at least are under limit values. Similarly, the main sources of air pollution in Amsterdam are traffic, in particular for NO<sub>2</sub>, and international shipping. Decreasing emissions and concentration levels point to some success of Amsterdam air quality policies in recent years. PM<sub>10</sub> exceedances are a seasonal pollution problem in Ljubljana, with the main particulate matter sources attributed to residential heating, which is still significantly outdated in some parts of the city, where households still heat with burning wood and biomass during winter. The most pressing issue for air quality within Sosnowiec is emissions from residential heating. Particulate matter are the main critical pollutants, linked with the use of inefficient heating systems, together with poor quality fuels, in winter. On the other hand, NO<sub>2</sub> limit values are also exceeded in Sosnowiec, but in comparison to the low-stack emissions, the problem is far smaller. On contrary, air quality in the Aveiro region is relatively good, due to an overall relatively low population density in the region, and an open landscape in a maritime climate. PM<sub>10</sub> and O<sub>3</sub> exceedances do occur occasionally. While, exceedances of NO<sub>2</sub> and O<sub>3</sub> concentrations are still problematic in Liguria region, with road transport, industrial plants and port activities being the main contributors to these problems.</strong></p>


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