Modelling transport-related pollution emissions for the synthetic baseline population of a large Canadian university

ABSTRACT

Large universities can be considered as special trip generators requiring special Traffic Demand Management (TDM) policies. Due to their unique accessibility, mixed land-use, and welcoming environment for alternative modes, they are well placed to promote active transportation, carpooling, parking management, and shuttle buses. These have direct effects on regional traffic, as well as on the total vehicular emissions of Greenhouse Gases (GHG) and other pollutants. This paper estimates transport-related pollution emissions for university population segments at Dalhousie University, Nova Scotia, comprising undergraduate-students, graduate students, faculty members, and staff. The data used for this study are derived from the Environmentally Aware Commuter Travel Diary Survey (EnACT) conducted in spring 2016. Initially, we generate a 100% synthetic population for the entirety of university commuters. Then, we model transport-related polluting emissions, including carbon dioxide (CO₂), carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen oxide (NO_x), particulate matter (PM₁₀ and PM_2.5), total hydrocarbon (THC), and volatile organic compounds (VOC), based on the population features and their living zones in relation to campus areas. In this study, five zones are described for emission estimation: on-campus, inner city, suburban area, inner commuter belt, and outer commuter belt. In addition, two emission scenarios are tested, which consider the impacts of changes to transit ridership and auto driving. These scenarios demonstrate how changing the primary travel mode can greatly influence emissions volume. The empirical models provide useful insights that can be utilized to improve TDM policies of university campuses, as well as to analyze environmental mitigation scenarios.

KEYWORDS:

• Transport-related polluting emissions
• transport pollution
• travel survey
• travel mode
• university community

Acknowledgement

The current study has been approved by the Dalhousie research ethics board. Their cooperation is gratefully acknowledged. We would also like to acknowledge the university administration for promoting the EnACT survey across all campuses. Finally, the authors wish to acknowledge the Dalhousie Transportation and Environmental Simulation Studies (TESS) research group for providing feedback at the pilot phase of the EnACT survey.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The authors would like to thank the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC) and DFO-MPRI for their contribution in supporting the research.