Routing apps can deliver real-time insights into traffic emissions


Date:
August 20, 2020
Source:
University of Birmingham
Summary:
Routing apps such as Google Maps or Nokia's Here platform could
offer a cost-effective way of calculating emissions hotspots in
real time, say researchers.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Routing apps such as Google Maps or Nokia's Here platform could offer
a cost- effective way of calculating emissions hotspots in real time,
say researchers at the University of Birmingham.


========================================================================== These apps routinely capture detailed information as motorists use the GPS technology to plan and navigate routes. This data could be invaluable
for researchers and planners who need to better understand traffic
flows on busy roads, according to new research published in Weather,
the journal of the Royal Meteorological Society.

Current emissions data from road transport is collated from a number
of different sources by the National Atmospheric Emissions Inventory
and this is fed into annual reports to demonstrate compliance with
emissions targets. Many of these traditional air quality models rely on
the assumption that traffic is freely flowing at the legal speed limit -- whereas in many areas, traffic flow will vary through the day. These
models also overlook finer-grained detail from individual roads or
junctions that might be emissions hotspots at particular times of the day.

Although more detailed information might be available to city planners
when designing new road layouts or traffic improvement schemes, it
requires costly modelling by consultancies.

Making use of the crowd-sourced data from routing apps could, the
researchers argue, provide a low-cost and highly effective alternative
to both high level and localised modelling.

Helen Pearce, a PhD researcher at the University of Birmingham's School
of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences, led the study. She says:
"A lot of guidelines and policy on air quality management are based on
hourly time snapshots and on the average amount of traffic on a typical
day of the year.

The difficulty is that traffic can vary an enormous amount within that
time window and along individual roads, so in order to make decisions
that really work 'on the ground', we need to be able to access and make
use of this finer- grained detail." The approach suggested by the team
was tested on roads in Birmingham's busy city centre. Information on
the time taken to travel a series of road links was obtained via a map provider's API (application programming interface). This is conceptually similar to the approach that an individual would take to calculate the
time of a journey, but using the API the researchers were able to obtain information for multiple roads and at multiple times of the day.

Following a successful preliminary study, the team scaled up their
trial to include 920 major road links across Birmingham city centre,
extracting information about these roads at hourly intervals. The
researchers found they were able to clearly demonstrate the changes in
traffic flow between typical weekdays, weekends, and also the effects
of specific social events.

Speed related emissions could then be calculated using a combination
of sources including Defra's speed-related emission function database,
and traffic count data from the Department of Transport. This information
also helped the researchers take into account the relative splits between petrol and diesel engines.

"Our approach could provide significant insights into real-world vehicle behaviours," says Dr Zhaoya Gong, corresponding author on the study. "As
we start to see more electric and hybrid vehicles on the road, the
emissions picture starts to get more complicated because there will be
less exhaust emissions, but we will still see pollution from brakes, tyres
and road surface wear -- all these will vary significantly according to
the speed of the vehicle so this sort of data will be vital for developing accurate emissions models."

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Birmingham. Note:
Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Helen Pearce, Zhaoya Gong, Xiaoming Cai, William Bloss. Using
routing
apps to model real‐time road traffic emissions. Weather,
2020; DOI: 10.1002/wea.3729 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/08/200820110904.htm

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