The Impact Of Road Pricing And Other Strategic Road Transport Initiatives On Urban Air Quality

Presented in this paper are preliminary results from the application of a chain of dynamic simulation models of traffic flow, pollutant emission and dispersion, integrated within a geographic information systems (GIS) model to assess the impact of alternative transport scenarios on air quality for the city of Leeds (UK). The scenarios include: "business as usual" traffic growth to 2015; network development; road pricing with gordon charging; road pricing with distance charging; and the wider adoption of clean fuel vehicle technology. Identified is the impact of these developments on air quality, including exceedence of air quality standards. Differences in the spatial distribution of air quality between scenarios are highlighted in light of their significance to social equity concerns.