Implications of de-carbonization policies using an innovative urban transport simulator

Abstract

Urban transportation is responsible for most GHG and half of NOX emissions, causing health morbidity. New innovative tools are required to accurately calculate emissions and, at the same time, analyze the far-reaching impacts of urban transportation emissions in large-scale areas. To address this gap, we combined SimMobility's agent-based demand simulator with Aimsun-Next's dynamic traffic assignment model and developed a new mesoscopic emission model. In this study, we demonstrate the use of our improved simulation framework by investigating the effects of carbon-related transportation policies in the Tel-Aviv metropolitan area. We examined the change in demand, fuel consumption, various emissions levels, as well as analyzing environmental equity impacts. Our results show that limiting car ownership at the household level is more effective in restraining emissions than the examined geographical congestion charging policy. While reducing car ownership, carbon dioxide emissions and child exposure to PM2.5 are reduced by 11% and 19%, respectively.