Understanding Potential Exposure of Bicyclists on Roadways to Traffic-Related Air Pollution: Findings from El Paso, Texas, Using Strava Metro Data

Kyuhyun Lee,Ipek N Sener

doi:10.1016/j.jth.2019.100777

Abstract

As bicycling on roadways can cause adverse health effects, there is an urgent need to understand how bicycle routes expose bicyclists to traffic emissions. Limited resources for monitoring reveal that bicycle travel patterns may constrain such understanding at the network level. This study examined the potential exposure of bicyclists to traffic-related air pollution in El Paso, Texas, using Strava Metro data that revealed bicycle patterns across the city networks. An initial spatial mapping analysis was conducted to explore the spatial patterns of bicycling and traffic pollutant emission, followed by exploratory descriptive statistics. A spatial bicycle model was then developed to explore factors influencing bicycling activity in El Paso. Analysis results indicated significant associations between greater bicycle volume and both higher levels of particulate matter (PM2.5) emissions and more frequent bus services, implying adverse health concerns related to traffic-related air pollution. The results also indicated significant effects of various environmental characteristics (e.g., roadway, bicycle infrastructure, topography, and demographics) on bicycling. The findings encourage extending this study to provide guidance to bicyclists whose regular trips take place on heavily trafficked roads and during rush hours in this region and to evaluate the net health impacts of on-road bicycling for the general population.

Highlights

The results indicated that PM2.5 emission, one of the primary indicators of air pollution resulting from motorized traffic, was significantly associated with bicycle activity volumes
Since increasing cycling rates can be an integral component of strategies that generate synergistic effects on multiple social issues in El Paso, the findings should be carefully considered in efforts to promote bicycle activities
Understanding how people make bicycle trips and how much they are exposed to the less visible threats of traffic is a critical part of decision-making, especially for cities faced with public health and environmental issues like the El Paso region

Summary

Introduction

Bicycling has numerous benefits that justify efforts to encourage daily bicycling as a desirable transportation and health benefit, but direct exposure to the environment makes bicyclists on the road more vulnerable to traffic-related collisions and emissions. While a person is physically active, breathing and ventilation rates increase, and the amount of air pollutant inhaled is likely to increase [1]. It has become widely believed that exposure to traffic-related air pollutants, such as particulate matter with an aerodynamic diameter below 2.5 μm (PM2.5 ), can cause respiratory and chronic diseases [9,10]. Bicyclists who make a daily trip mostly alongside busy routes with heavy traffic and maintain this travel behavior are likely to be at risk of such health problems. The levels of exposure to air pollution can vary depending on which

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Conclusion