Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Global Overview of Health Impacts from Particulate Matter

Premature Mortality and Particulate Matter: A Critical Challenge in Urban Management - A Global Perspective on Effects, Placed in an Asian Context (57 page pdf slides, Bob O’Keefe, Sixth Regional EST Forum in Asia, New Delhi, India, Nov. 9, 2011)

Today, we review the keynote address to The Sixth Regional EST Forum in Asia,sponsored by the World Health Organization with the Theme: Sustainable Mobility. The author provided highlights of recent research into the health impact associated with air pollution, pointing out the risks of proximity (within 300-500 m) of most urban populations to traffic.



Key Quotes:

*High levels of PM (> 500 μ/m3) known to cause premature death. Studies in US, Europe, elsewhere have found association of PM with mortality at much lower levels (<50μ/m3); No evidence of a “threshold” (safe level)”

“Estimates impact of urban outdoor air pollution worldwide:~795,000 premature deaths per year attributable to PM air pollution in Asian cities”

“• Highest exposures 300-500 meters from major roads - Growing evidence of effects, especially asthma exacerbation in children”
  • In Los Angeles, 44% of population live in the maximum zone of impact of major roads
  • in Delhi: New HEI Analysis: 55% of the Population within 500 meters of a highway; 50 meters of a major road
  • in Beijing: New HEI Analysis: 76% of the Population within 500 meters of a highway; 50 meters of a major road”
“the Panel found:
  • Sufficient evidence that exposure to traffic can cause exacerbation of asthma, especially in children
  • Suggestive evidence for other health effects (premature mortality, lung function, respiratory symptoms, and others)
  • But only limited evidence of effects for: Adult onset asthma; Health care utilization; COPD; Non-asthmatic allergy; Birth outcomes; Cancers”
“Given the large number of people living within 300- 500 meters of a major road, the Panel concluded that exposures to primary traffic generated pollutants are likely to be of public health concern and deserve attention”

“Who is most at risk from premature mortality from PM Exposure?

• Highest effects generally seen among: Older, frail members of society; Those with preexisting heart or lung disease

Highest PM effects for Heart disease (18% - 24% increase in risk per 10 μg/m3PM2.5)”
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Monday, December 19, 2011

Proximity to Traffic, Autism and Impacts on the Brain

The Hidden Toll of Traffic Jams - Scientists Increasingly Link Vehicle Exhaust With Brain-Cell Damage, Higher Rates of Autism
(Robert Lee Hotz , Wall Street Journal, Nov. 8, 2011)
Also discussed here: Autism Increase May Be Blamed On Increased Traffic Fumes (The Autism Newswire)

And here: Increased Rates of Neurocognitive Issues Linked to High Traffic Areas (Carolyn Drake, HCP Live, Nov. 30, 2011)

And here: Rush-Hour Read: The Link Between Traffic Congestion and Health (Daniel Lippman, The Infrastructurist, Nov. 9, 2011)

Today, we return to a review of studies on the health impacts on the brain for those who breathe air near traffic. The studies indicate that the while the vehicle emissions affect everyone for periods as short as 30 minutes, impacts near traffic include the intelligence and emotional stability of children and the brain activity of seniors. There is evidence also that congestion pricing’s role in improving air quality has beneficial health impacts.



Key Quotes
“New public-health studies and laboratory experiments suggest that, at every stage of life, traffic fumes exact a measurable toll on mental capacity, intelligence and emotional stability. There are more and more scientists trying to find whether and why exposure to traffic exhaust can damage the human brain”

“Traffic fumes from some major L.A. freeways reached up to 1.5 miles downwind—10 times farther than previously believed”

"There are more and more scientists trying to find whether and why exposure to traffic exhaust can damage the human brain,"

“an individual breathing street-level fumes for just 30 minutes will experience more intense electrical activity in brain regions accountable for behavior, personality, and decision-making—a change that is normally an indication of stress, they stated”

“an elderly individual breathing normal city air with high levels of traffic exhaust for 90 days could suffer alterations to how his/her genes turn on or off”

“the intelligence and emotional stability of children residing in areas affected by high levels of emissions…such children scored worse on IQ tests and were more prone to depression, anxiety, and attention issues than children who lived in areas with cleaner air"

“children born to mothers who resided within 1,000 feet of a major road or freeway in Los Angeles, San Francisco, or Sacramento were twice as likely to be autistic”

“areas around highway toll plazas [in New Jersey, USA] dropped 10.8% after the introduction of E-ZPass, which eased traffic congestion and reduced exhaust fumes, according to reports published in scientific journals this year and in 2009.”
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Friday, December 16, 2011

Tolls, Congestion and HOT Lanes in Canadian Cities

FasTrak High-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes at 91 ...Image via WikipediaCongestive Traffic Failure: The Case for High-Occupancy and Express Toll Lanes in Canadian Cities (9 page pdf, Benjamin Dachis, C.D. Howe Institute, Aug. 31, 2011)

Also discussed here: Think Tank proposes HOT lanes for Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal (Road Pricing, Nov. 2, 2011)

The difficulty on introducing tolls as urban cities become more and more clogged with traffic is addressed in the report reviewed today which suggests high-occupancy toll ( HOT) lanes for Canada’s five largest cities. HOT lanes could generate more than $1 B/ year in much needed net revenue in these cities where congestion costs more than $5 Billion or $410 per capita pm average.

Key Quotes:

“Canada’s urban highways are choked with congestion because road access is free and scarce road space is occupied by drivers who wait, albeit grumpily, in traffic”

“governments have chosen to build carpool lanes on urban highways, despite evidence that these lanes have limited effectiveness in curbing congestion”

“Governments should instead convert existing and planned carpool lanes to high-occupancy toll (HOT) lanes, giving drivers a choice of whether to use them or free lanes.. improve travel time reliability, increasehighway capacity and potentially reduce congestion on un-tolled lanes”

“congestion in Vancouver cost C$927 million per annum ..which comes to C$466 per capita”

“allowing vehicles to use the network by paying a toll akin to C$0.23 per km at peak times and half that at the off peak - to match the Toronto 407 toll road rates.. would generate C$81 million per annum in revenue.”

“taxes on fuel and ownership only cover 53% of road infrastructure costs”

“The political dilemma of pricing what were previously free lanes has hitherto stymied road toll proposals. By preserving a non-toll option, HOT and express lanes provide the solution. They can achieve the benefits of road pricing, while still being politically palatable, since drivers have the choice to drive for free in adjacent lanes”
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Thursday, December 15, 2011

Making Paris Mobile in a Cleaner Environment

English: Paris, France : station Velib (bike h...

Deutsch: Paris: Eiffelturm und Marsfeld]

The greening of Paris

( Manisha Gutman, The Hindu,Feb. 3, 2008)

Also discussed here: Slowth (Eric Britton, World Streets, Mar. 9, 2009)

Paris received an award recently for its Mobility Plan which was aimed at replacing its car culture with other and less polluting forms of transportation, including innovative bicycle and car sharing schemes, extensive information communication systems making known the availability of the alternatives and improved public transit based on the concept of “slowth”, not fast and growth.

Key Quotes:

“In a dense urban context, cars are the most inefficient system of transport, creating traffic jams and needing more and more parking space. The car culture in the city had to be replaced by alternative systems of transport”

“Priorities of the New Mobility plan for Paris:
  • improving air quality and public health, with an emphasis on reducing carbon emissions.
  • mobility had to be improved not only for the rich few, but for all, overcoming barriers of physical and economic handicaps.
  • creating a beautiful city remained a priority.
  • rejuvenate economic vitality, supporting commerce and tourism.
  • regional solidarity, uniting the two million people who live within the city limits with the 12 million that live around the city, in the larger region of the Ile-de-France”
“The 20,000 Velib public cycles that were introduced in June this year [2008]were preceded by an establishment of 400 km of cycle paths in the city”

““autopartage” — public cars that can be hired successively by different users to cover different routes”

“a traffic system based on slowth is carefully calibrated to lower top speeds , but the entire system leads to far steadier flows and throughput, and, with it, greater safety, lower emissions, and higher quality of life all around”
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Wednesday, December 14, 2011

How Expensive are Roads Built only for Cars?

Combating the Myth That Complete Streets Are Too Expensive (Tanya Snyder, World Streets DC, Dec. 8, 2011)

Also discussed here: National Complete Steets Coalition

Today we look at reasons to build streets for uses other than driving (such as cycling and walking) and find that this is not only economical but also adds to the overall quality of life for cities that take this approach. Making roads more narrow for driving also reduces costs.



Key Quotes:

“Do you put on your walking boots only to find that your city’s street design conveys the message, ‘These roads were made for driving?’”

“Sidewalks will turn out to be somewhere around 3 percent of that compilation of costs.. Bicycle lanes, around 5 percent — and that’s adding bicycle lanes, of course, to both sides of the street…reducing the width of a lane by a foot can reduce the costs by 2 percent.”

“In many cases, by accommodating road uses that take up less space than automobiles, cities can reduce the need for road and intersection widening later”
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Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Health Impacts from Exposure to Emissions from Traffic

English: Intermed. mag. (H&E). Image:Cardiac a...Image via Wikipedia

Health Update - Association Between Exposure to Traffic and Heart Disease (6 page pdf, Air Resources Board, California Environmental Protection Agency, Feb. 24, 2005)

Today we review a briefing to the California Air Resources Board on the health risks faced by those who travel on or live near freeways. Results “provide evidence for an association between exposure to traffic and its pollutants and increased risk of heart attacks and heart disease risk factors, even in healthy, young adults”.

Key Quotes:

“increased death from heart and lung disease - Particle counts and black carbon increase by a factor of 30 near 405 and 710 freeways”

“There was a rapid decrease in concentration on the downwind side of the freeways to near background levels within about 500 feet”

“for a typical commuter, the in-vehicle exposure to traffic-related pollutants while travelling on freeways can represent more than 50% of their daily exposure to ultrafine PM”

“German investigators focused on residents of Augsburg, a city of about 280,000 residents located near Munich, who experienced nonlethal heart attacks over a two-year period- The risk was greatest – a threefold increase – when traffic exposure occurred one hour before the heart attack”

“Nine healthy North Carolina State Troopers were monitored using real-time electrocardiographs. The volunteers were males ages 23 to 30, non-smokers, and had shifts from 3 pm to midnight- In-vehicle PM2.5 levels were associated with significant changes in markers of inflammation, blood coagulation, and cardiac rhythm, which are possible indicators for increased risk of heart disease”
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Monday, December 12, 2011

Pricing Parking Policies and Principles in Delhi, India

Districts of Delhi, with Narela in the North W...

Parking Policy for Delhi(126 slides PowerPoint file, Municipal Corporation of Delhi, Dec, 2011)

Also discussed here: Congestion charges around the world - Delhi is planning to introduce a congestion charge, following in the footsteps of Singapore, London, Oslo and Stockholm (Gwyn Topham, The Guardian, Dec. 8, 2011)

Today’s review article comes from Delhi, the 100 year old Capital of India (as of today), where the need for an improved policy toward congestion and parking is proposed to relieve congestion and the amount of space used for parking of the millions of vehicles. Options considered include pricing parking spaces by location and time of day and a congestion charge for vehicles other than public entering the urban core. Many of the policies and approaches would seem to apply to other cities.



Key Quotes:

“A car is allotted 23 sq m for parking. On an average three different car spaces are needed per car in the city, result, the current fleet occupies nearly 9-10 % of Delhi’s geographic area”

“Overall Principles:
  • Parking should be managed so that it supports the City’s strategic outcomes for economic development, urban development, transport, environmental, social and recreation, and cultural well being.
  • Parking also has the equally important role of supporting a better land transport system for the city that is integrated, safe, responsive and sustainable
  • Street space is a scarce resource and priority for use for parking needs to be considered against other uses and depends on the location, type of street, time of day and day of week
  • Revenue from parking needs to reflect the parking policy and the city’s strategic direction. Pricing is an effective tool in maintaining a certain level of availability of the on-street spaces…”
“The overarching objective for parking is to progressively reduce the demand for parking and facilitate organized parking for all types of vehicles”

“Introduction of congestion tax in select high density and business district (zones) of the city. Rationalisation of the fee in accordance with the land use and price is to be followed”

“Approaches:
  • A variable pricing based on the location of the parking linked to land price is a desirable model: Parking in the centre of city will be costlier than parking in the periphery as the value of the land is different.
  • Variable pricing based on hourly basis during the peak hours and lower prices during the off peak periods is recommended.
  • Fee collection can be through automated methods or manual means.
  • This must be carried out within the guidelines drawn up by the authority.
  • Variable parking fee needs to be based on the size and type of vehicle – the larger the vehicle, the fee will be higher.
  • The increase of tariff for the number of hours parked will be cumulative scale with every increase of hour parked- the fee will be higher”
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