Generating Emission Information for Route Selection: Experimental Monitoring and Route Characterization

Route selection decisions of drivers are important in how the transportation system performs. While travelers’ route choice decisions are influenced by several factors including travel time and trip distance, it is not clear what impacts, if any, will additional information about emissions have on route choices. This study explores ways to generate information about emissions for people faced with a choice of routes and provides details of the methodology. In this regard, GPS equipped-vehicles were used to traverse various paths between origins and destinations in order to collect second-by-second trajectory data required for microscopic analysis. Then, a methodology based on the Vehicle Specific Power (VSP) concept was used to extract the emissions impact. A video camera was used to record route features, traffic incidents, and congestion levels. Two different vehicles and drivers traversed urban and intercity routes in order to consider the influence of driver behavior and vehicle dynamics. It was found that both at the urban and intercity scales, a combination of an appropriate route and smoother driving styles can result in significant savings of fuel consumption and substantial emissions reductions. Moreover, a trade-off between the minimization of CO2/fuel consumption and the local pollutants was found.