United States Department of Transportation
i
Estimating and incorporating CO2 emissions and associated fuel consumption into the Urban Mobility Report.
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2013-03-01
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[PDF-1.24 MB]
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NTL Classification:NTL-ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT-Air Quality;NTL-ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT-Environment Impacts;NTL-PLANNING AND POLICY-PLANNING AND POLICY;NTL-OPERATIONS AND TRAFFIC CONTROLS-Congestion;
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Abstract:TTI’s Urban Mobility Report (UMR) is acknowledged as the most authoritative source of information about traffic congestion
and its possible solutions. As policymakers from the local to national levels devise strategies to reduce greenhouse gas
emissions and other pollutants, the level of interest in the environmental impact of congestion has increased. To this end, this
research effort developed and applied a methodology for determining the emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2) due to congestion
for use in the UMR. The methodology also estimated fuel consumption based upon the carbon dioxide emissions estimates.
Researchers at the Texas A&M Transportation Institute (TTI) collaborated with researchers at the Wisconsin Energy Institute
at the University of Wisconsin-Madison to develop CO2 estimates to include in the UMR. Researchers developed a five-step
methodology using data from three primary data sources, 1) the Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA’s) Highway
Performance Monitoring System (HPMS), 2) INRIX traffic speed data, and 3) The United States Environmental Protection
Agency’s (EPA) MOtor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES) model. The research successfully developed and applied the
methodology. Emission rates (lbs of CO2 per mile) were validated in selected cities, with results in the range of 80 percent to
99 percent of the literature values. Researchers incorporated the new methodology for all urban areas into the 2012 Urban
Mobility Report and plan to include these same measures in future releases of the report. Researchers reported that, in 2011,
56 billion pounds of additional CO2 were produced in all 498 urban areas during congestion only, equating to 2.9 billion
gallons of “wasted” fuel. Researchers reported the amount of CO2 produced at free-flow conditions (i.e., absent congestion)
is 1.8 trillion pounds in 2011 in all 498 urban areas.
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