Generating Emissions Information for Route Selection: Experimental Monitoring and Routes Characterization

Infrastructure and traffic management technologies can have substantial impact on fuel use and emissions. This article explores a way to generate information about emissions and other route characteristics for drivers faced with a choice of routes. Global positioning system (GPS)-equipped vehicles were used to traverse various paths between origins and destinations to collect second-by-second trajectory data required for microscale emission analysis. A methodology based on the vehicle specific power (VSP) concept was used to estimate the emissions impact. On-board video footage recorded route features, traffic incidents, and congestion levels. Two different vehicles and drivers traversed several urban and intercity routes to enable the consideration of the influence of driver behavior and vehicle dynamics. It was found that the choice of a route can substantially affect emission rates of the analysed pollutants and that smoother driving styles can also result in considerable emissions reduction. A trade-off between reducing CO2/fuel consumption and local pollutants has been identified. Specifically, faster intercity routes are more desirable in terms of fuel use and CO2 emissions. However, these same routes yielded carbon monoxide, nitrous oxides, and hydrocarbons emission increases of up to 150%. These findings have implications for future investment and policy decisions regarding eco routing strategies.