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Optimising Air Quality and Health Benefits of Transport Decarbonisation

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Transportation".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 August 2024 | Viewed by 6617

Special Issue Editors

Centre for Future Transport and Cities, Coventry University, Coventry CV1 5FB, UK
Interests: transport policy; regulation and standards
Institute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston B15 2TT, UK
Interests: environmental epidemiology; public policy
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Institute of Applied Health Research, University of Birmingham, Edgbaston B15 2TT, UK
Interests: numerical modelling of air quality; software development; academic-to-practitioner knowledge transfer
School of Mechanical Engineering, Coventry University, Coventry, UK
Interests: atomization and sprays; sustainability in engineering; air quality in resource poor regions; heat and mass transfer
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

There is a second major transport revolution, characterised by a future shift away from the internal combustion engine, with implications for existing business models, national infrastructure, and the way we travel. This transition presents opportunities and challenges for improving indoor and outdoor air quality and health, occurring in the context of disruptive changes in transport technology and evolving mobility patterns through demographic and behavioural changes in recent decades. The TRANSITION Clean Air Network (https://transition-air.org.uk/) is a programme led by the University of Birmingham in collaboration with 9 universities and over 20 cross-sector partners, which seeks to deliver air quality and health benefits associated with a transition to a low-emission transport economy.

Authors from engineering, public health, environmental and social sciences, alongside those representing business and not-for-profit organisations who seek to identify challenges and capitalise on opportunities to improve air-quality-related population health benefits associated with transport decarbonisation, are invited to submit their papers. Multidisciplinary research that bridges the physical, biological, social sciences, and the humanities is particularly encouraged. Submissions could relate but are not limited to the following topics and questions:

  • Characterising emerging air quality challenges—what are the current and future transport pollution sources and how will these determine health benefits and harms?
  • Understanding transport choices and behaviours—how will changes in mobility choices and patterns driven by transport decarbomisation change population exposure to air pollution?
  • Supporting industry-led research and innovation—obtaining key primary datasets, developing new technologies, or developing standards and/or test methods to assess compliance therewith;
  • Co-creating a framework for policy solutions—which planning processes/policy guidance need to be adapted to optimise public health benefits?

Dr. Huw Davies
Dr. Suzanne Bartington
Dr. James Levine
Dr. Nwabueze Emekwuru
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • air quality
  • public health
  • transport decarbonisation
  • policy
  • pollutants

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 5109 KiB  
Article
Exposures to Particles and Volatile Organic Compounds across Multiple Transportation Modes
by Nick Molden, Carl Hemming, Felix Leach, James G. Levine, Karl Ropkins and William Bloss
Sustainability 2023, 15(5), 4005; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15054005 - 22 Feb 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1987
Abstract
Travellers may be exposed to a wide range of different air pollutants during their journeys. In this study, personal exposures within vehicles and during active travel were tested in real-world conditions across nine different transport modes on journeys from London Paddington to Oxford [...] Read more.
Travellers may be exposed to a wide range of different air pollutants during their journeys. In this study, personal exposures within vehicles and during active travel were tested in real-world conditions across nine different transport modes on journeys from London Paddington to Oxford City Centre, in the United Kingdom. The modes tested covered cycling, walking, buses, coaches, trains and private cars. Such exposures are relevant to questions of traveller comfort and safety in the context of airborne diseases such as COVID-19 and a growing awareness of the health, safety and productivity effects of interior air quality. Pollutants measured were particle number (PN), particle mass (PM), carbon dioxide (CO2) and speciated volatile organic compounds (VOCs), using devices carried on or with the traveller, with pumped sampling. Whilst only a relatively small number of journeys were assessed—inviting future work to assess their statistical significance—the current study highlights where a particular focus on exposure reduction should be placed. Real-time results showed that exposures were dominated by short-term spikes in ambient concentrations, such as when standing on a train platform, or at the roadside. The size distribution of particles varied significantly according to the situation. On average, the coach created the highest exposures overall; trains had mixed performance, while private cars and active transport typically had the lowest exposures. Sources of pollutants included both combustion products entering the vehicle and personal care products from other passengers, which were judged from desk research on the most likely source of each individual compound. Although more exposed to exhaust emissions while walking or cycling, the active traveller had the benefit of rapid dilution of these pollutants in the open air. An important variable in determining total exposure was the journey length, where the speed of the private car was advantageous compared to the relative slowness of the coach. Full article
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30 pages, 756 KiB  
Article
Meta-Analysis as Early Evidence on the Particulate Emissions Impact of EURO VI on Battery Electric Bus Fleet Transitions
by Jon Tivey, Huw C. Davies, James G. Levine, Josias Zietsman, Suzanne Bartington, Sergio Ibarra-Espinosa and Karl Ropkins
Sustainability 2023, 15(2), 1522; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15021522 - 12 Jan 2023
Viewed by 1700
Abstract
The current generation of Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) policies are designed to accelerate the transition away from conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) petrol and diesel vehicle fleets. However, the current focus on zero exhaust emissions and the lack of more detailed guidance regarding [...] Read more.
The current generation of Zero Emission Vehicle (ZEV) policies are designed to accelerate the transition away from conventional internal combustion engine (ICE) petrol and diesel vehicle fleets. However, the current focus on zero exhaust emissions and the lack of more detailed guidance regarding Non-Exhaust Emissions (NEEs) may mean that some of the trade-offs in transitioning to, e.g., Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV) fleets may be missed by many in the commercial sector. Here, as part of early work on the scoping of the First Bus EURO VI Diesel Vehicle (E6DV) to BEV fleet upgrades, we estimate E6DV total particulate emissions to be ca. 62–85 and 164–213 mg.veh1.km1 for PM2.5 and PM10, respectively, and that the majority, typically 93–97%, are NEEs. We also discuss the complex interaction between E6DV/BEV properties and estimate potential changes resulting from the transition to BEVs as ranging from a decrease of ca. 2–12% to an increase of ca. 12–50% depending on a combination of weight difference, regenerative brake performance and journey type. Finally, we propose metrics that would allow fleet operators more insight into a wider range of emission outcomes at the scoping stage of a fleet upgrade. Full article
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17 pages, 4935 KiB  
Article
Impacts of COVID-19 Lockdown on Traffic Flow, Active Travel and Gaseous Pollutant Concentrations; Implications for Future Emissions Control Measures in Oxford, UK
by Ajit Singh, Tianjiao Guo, Tony Bush, Pedro Abreu, Felix C. P. Leach, Brian Stacey, George Economides, Ruth Anderson, Stuart Cole, G. Neil Thomas, Francis D. Pope and Suzanne E. Bartington
Sustainability 2022, 14(23), 16182; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142316182 - 04 Dec 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1825
Abstract
The COVID-19 lockdown provided a unique opportunity to test the impacts of changes in travel patterns on air quality and the environment. Therefore, this study provides insights into the impacts of COVID-19 emergency public health “lockdown” measures upon traffic flow, active travel and [...] Read more.
The COVID-19 lockdown provided a unique opportunity to test the impacts of changes in travel patterns on air quality and the environment. Therefore, this study provides insights into the impacts of COVID-19 emergency public health “lockdown” measures upon traffic flow, active travel and gaseous pollutant concentrations (NO, NO2 and O3) in Oxford city centre during 2020 using time-series analysis and linear regression methods. Comparisons of traffic counts indicated pronounced changes in traffic volume associated with national lockdown periods. Car volume reduced by 77.5% (statistically significant) during the first national lockdown, with lesser changes in goods vehicles and public transport (bus) activity during the second lockdown. Cycle flow reduced substantively during the first lockdown only. These changes resulted in a reduction in nitric oxide (NO) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2) concentrations of 75.1% and 47.4%, respectively, at roadside, and 71.8% and 34.1% at urban background during the first lockdown period. In contrast ozone (O3) concentrations increased at the urban background site by 22.3% during the first lockdown period, with no significant changes in gaseous concentrations during the second lockdown at either roadside or urban background location. The diurnal pattern of peak mean NO and NO2 concentrations reduced in magnitude and was shifted approximately 2 h earlier in the morning and 2 h later in the evening (roadside) and 3 h earlier in the morning and 3 h later in the evening (urban background). Our findings provide an example of how gaseous air quality in urban environments could respond to future urban traffic restrictions, suggesting benefits from reductions in peak and daily NO2 exposures may be offset by health harms arising from increases in ground level O3 concentrations in the summer months. Full article
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Planned Papers

The below list represents only planned manuscripts. Some of these manuscripts have not been received by the Editorial Office yet. Papers submitted to MDPI journals are subject to peer-review.

Title: Investigating the nexus between travel patterns, traffic emissions and local air quality during the COVID-19 pandemic - evidence from Bristol and Oxford, UK

Authors: Ajit Singh, Fiona Crawford, Suzanne Bartington

Synopsis: Applying methods previously used in gene sequencing to number plates and vehicle registration data, the research will generate insights into travel behaviour during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide insights into the air quality impacts of changes in working patterns and shopping behaviour (e.g., increasing home working and home deliveries).

 

Title: Have policy decisions that target the automotive sector improved local air quality? Evidence from the City of Coventry

Synopsis:  The purpose is to determine, based on the policy instrument under scrutiny, whether correlations exist, the strength of that correlation and whether this is revealed in the data available from Coventry City Council. Explanations will then be sought using systems thinking to explain.

 

Title: Non-exhaust particulate emissions from vehicles - measurements, health effects and policies

Authors: Huw Davies and Nwabueze Emekuru (CU)

Synopsis: This paper will outline the problem of NEEs, the direction of travel as informed by measurements and policy instruments, the complexities of measurement and the innovation solutions under development to correct.

 

Title: Real-World Evidence on Factors Affecting Bus Fleet Non-Exhaust Emissions

Authors: Karl Ropkins (Leeds); Jon Tivey (FirstBus); Huw Davies (Coventry)

Synopsis: This paper aims to quantify real-world factors affecting Bus Fleet Non-Exhaust Emissions (NEE) in parallel with the proposed transition to a 100% zero emission bus fleet. The trial includes 10 doubled decker buses being monitored in York – 5 x ICE, 5 x Electric Vehicles (EVs)

 

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