Quantify the Real Impact of Transportation Activity on Regional Ozone and Near-Road PM Concentrations

TxDOT and its partner agencies are required to comply with the requirements of the transportation conformity requirement. Transportation conformity is an emissions control-centric process built on the assumption that that reducing emissions from transportation activities would lead to better air quality. However, the air quality observations collected since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic shows ambient ozone and particulate matter of less than 2.5 micrometer in aerodynamic diameter (PM₂.₅), concentrations have a mixed response to the significant changes in traffic activities and emissions. This trend has raised questions regarding the extent of the transportation’s impacts on air quality. This study will bridge the gap in the understanding of the actual extent of transportation activities' impacts on regional and near-road air quality. The research team will study three major activities for selected case study areas: (1) Analysis of before- and during-pandemic traffic activity and air quality monitoring data. (2) Evaluate the performance of air dispersion modeling in capturing the changes of near-road PM₂.₅ concentrations in near-road environment resulting from traffic activity variations. (3) Evaluate the performance of photochemical modeling in capturing the changes of regional ozone in response to changes of traffic activities. The study will also result in a characterization of COVID-19 restrictions’ impacts on traffic activities and air quality.

• Record URL:
  • https://library.ctr.utexas.edu/Presto/project=0-7132

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Completed
• Funding: $537321
• Contract Numbers:

  0-7132

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Texas Department of Transportation

  125 E. 11th Street
  Austin, TX  United States  78701-2483
• Managing Organizations:

  Texas Department of Transportation

  125 E. 11th Street
  Austin, TX  United States  78701-2483
• Project Managers:

  Odell, Wade

• Performing Organizations:

  Texas A&M Transportation Institute

  Texas A&M University System
  3135 TAMU
  College Station, TX  United States  77843-3135

  The University of Texas at El Paso

  500 W University Ave
  El Paso, TX  United States  79902
• Principal Investigators:

  Kim, Bumsik

• Start Date: 20210907
• Expected Completion Date: 20240831
• Actual Completion Date: 20240831

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Air quality; Before and after studies; COVID-19; Model atmosphere; Particulates; Pollutants; Roadside; Travel restrictions; Vehicle miles of travel
• Subject Areas: Environment; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Planning and Forecasting; Security and Emergencies;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01782701
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Texas Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: 0-7132
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Sep 23 2021 10:51AM