Sustainable Freight Infrastructure to Meet Climate and Air Quality Goals

Bickford, Erica; Holloway, Tracey

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Sustainable Freight Infrastructure to Meet Climate and Air Quality Goals

2012-02-02
By Bickford, Erica ; Holloway, Tracey

File Language:

English

[PDF - 11.80 MB]

Details

Creators:

Bickford, Erica ; Holloway, Tracey
Corporate Creators:

National Center for Freight and Infrastructure Research and Education (U.S.)
Corporate Contributors:

United States. Dept. of Transportation. Research and Innovative Technology Administration
Subject/TRT Terms:
Publication/ Report Number:

CFIRE 02-09
Resource Type:

Tech Report
Geographical Coverage:

West North Central States ; United States
Corporate Publisher:

Wisconsin. Dept. of Transportation
Abstract:

This report examines the potential for freight modal shift from truck-to-rail in the upper Midwestern U.S. to improve air quality and reduce CO2 emissions. Two scenarios were generated, one focusing on intra-regional freight movements within the Midwest and the second on through-freight movements into, out of, and through the region. Freight truck and rail emissions inventories were generated corresponding to each scenario and input to a regional air quality model (CMAQ). Results showed the intra-regional scenario had little impact on Midwest air quality, however the through-freight scenario greatly reduced concentrations of NO2 and EC near roadways (up to 27% for NO2 and up to 16% for EC), with corresponding increases near railways. The through-freight scenario also reduced CO2 emissions 31% compared to baseline trucking. Reductions in PM2.5 and O3 were modest, up to 3%. We conclude that while truck-to-rail modal shift does improve regional air quality, the motivation for advocating rail over truck lies principally in reduced human exposure to near-roadway pollution, as well as reduction of carbon emissions.
Format:

PDF
Funding:

0092-09-23
Download URL:

https://rosap.ntl.bts.gov/view/dot/25437/dot_25437_DS1.pdf
File Type:

[PDF - 11.80 MB]
Collection(s):

University Transportation Centers ; US Transportation Collection
Main Document Checksum:

urn:sha-512:691687db994a497e8e663bfbd59196cc18fb1a41aad3a9c1d8b33d8c224b077ff03a64f12a7a91b1c29781d76c88dcfaf9f07a1e9da4d71a6e677fd89ff3a3d2

File Language:

English

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