Managing Traffic Flows for Cleaner Cities: The Role of Green Navigation Systems
Cities worldwide suffer from serious air pollution problems and are main contributors to climate change. Green Navigation systems have a great potential to reduce fuel consumption and exhaust emissions from traffic. This research evaluates the impacts of different percentages of green drivers on tra...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2017-06-01
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Series: | Energies |
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Online Access: | http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/6/791 |
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author | Fiamma Perez-Prada Andres Monzon Cristina Valdes |
author_facet | Fiamma Perez-Prada Andres Monzon Cristina Valdes |
author_sort | Fiamma Perez-Prada |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Cities worldwide suffer from serious air pollution problems and are main contributors to climate change. Green Navigation systems have a great potential to reduce fuel consumption and exhaust emissions from traffic. This research evaluates the impacts of different percentages of green drivers on traffic, CO2, and NOx over the entire Madrid Region. A macroscopic traffic model was combined with an enhanced macroscopic emissions model and a GIS (Geographic Information Systems) to simulate emissions on the basis of average vehicle speeds and traffic intensity at the link level. NOx emissions are evaluated, taking into account not only the exhaust emissions produced by transport activity, but also the amount of the population exposed to these air pollutants. Results show up to 10.4% CO2 and 13.8% NOx reductions in congested traffic conditions for a 90% penetration of green drivers; however, the population’s exposure to NOx increases up to 20.2%. Moreover, while traffic volumes decrease by 13.5% for the entire region, they increase by up to 16.4% downtown. Travel times also increase by 28.7%. Since green drivers tend to choose shorter routes through downtown areas, eco-routing systems are an effective tool for fighting climate change, but are ineffective to reduce air pollution in dense urban areas. |
first_indexed | 2024-04-11T22:20:01Z |
format | Article |
id | doaj.art-46df9c1bc0cd41848c82a3ea1548c145 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 1996-1073 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-04-11T22:20:01Z |
publishDate | 2017-06-01 |
publisher | MDPI AG |
record_format | Article |
series | Energies |
spelling | doaj.art-46df9c1bc0cd41848c82a3ea1548c1452022-12-22T04:00:10ZengMDPI AGEnergies1996-10732017-06-0110679110.3390/en10060791en10060791Managing Traffic Flows for Cleaner Cities: The Role of Green Navigation SystemsFiamma Perez-Prada0Andres Monzon1Cristina Valdes2Transport Research Centre (TRANSyT), Escuela de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid, Ciudad Universitaria, 28040 Madrid, SpainTransport-Civil Eng. Department, Escuela de Ingenieros de Caminos, Canales y Puertos, Universidad Politecnica de Madrid, 28040 Madrid, SpainEmpresa Municipal de Transportes de Madrid, 28007 Madrid, SpainCities worldwide suffer from serious air pollution problems and are main contributors to climate change. Green Navigation systems have a great potential to reduce fuel consumption and exhaust emissions from traffic. This research evaluates the impacts of different percentages of green drivers on traffic, CO2, and NOx over the entire Madrid Region. A macroscopic traffic model was combined with an enhanced macroscopic emissions model and a GIS (Geographic Information Systems) to simulate emissions on the basis of average vehicle speeds and traffic intensity at the link level. NOx emissions are evaluated, taking into account not only the exhaust emissions produced by transport activity, but also the amount of the population exposed to these air pollutants. Results show up to 10.4% CO2 and 13.8% NOx reductions in congested traffic conditions for a 90% penetration of green drivers; however, the population’s exposure to NOx increases up to 20.2%. Moreover, while traffic volumes decrease by 13.5% for the entire region, they increase by up to 16.4% downtown. Travel times also increase by 28.7%. Since green drivers tend to choose shorter routes through downtown areas, eco-routing systems are an effective tool for fighting climate change, but are ineffective to reduce air pollution in dense urban areas.http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/6/791eco-routinggreen navigationtraffic emissionsclimate changeair pollutionco-benefitstrade-offsICTCO2NOx |
spellingShingle | Fiamma Perez-Prada Andres Monzon Cristina Valdes Managing Traffic Flows for Cleaner Cities: The Role of Green Navigation Systems Energies eco-routing green navigation traffic emissions climate change air pollution co-benefits trade-offs ICT CO2 NOx |
title | Managing Traffic Flows for Cleaner Cities: The Role of Green Navigation Systems |
title_full | Managing Traffic Flows for Cleaner Cities: The Role of Green Navigation Systems |
title_fullStr | Managing Traffic Flows for Cleaner Cities: The Role of Green Navigation Systems |
title_full_unstemmed | Managing Traffic Flows for Cleaner Cities: The Role of Green Navigation Systems |
title_short | Managing Traffic Flows for Cleaner Cities: The Role of Green Navigation Systems |
title_sort | managing traffic flows for cleaner cities the role of green navigation systems |
topic | eco-routing green navigation traffic emissions climate change air pollution co-benefits trade-offs ICT CO2 NOx |
url | http://www.mdpi.com/1996-1073/10/6/791 |
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