Estimation of road traffic induced environmental pollutants based on a point-to-point traffic detection system

This paper aims at the estimation of road traffic induced environmental pollutants for the city of Thessaloniki, based on travel time detections of a point-to-point detection system. The hourly and daily pollutant emissions (NOx, CO, HC) and fuel consumption (FC) were estimated based on the COPERT model and include hot emissions of passengers’ cars circulating in high hierarchy links of the transport network. The system detections (travel time) were correlated based on each path’s length, in order to determine the average vehicle speed per analyzed time interval, which was the main determinant for calculating traffic induced emissions. The paper concludes with a sensitivity analysis based on link capacity and the prevailing traffic flow characteristics for optimally determining the vehicle speed and flow that minimize environmental pollutants.