01474014

Component

Student commute mode and route choice are important in determining commute safety as well as influencing student health, as recognized by the Safe Routes to School program. Little has been done, however, to examine the air pollution exposure impacts of student mode choice as students move throughout the roadway environment. This study examines differences in air pollutant exposure along three different routes for students commuting to school via auto, transit bus, and walking. Three pollutant types are included: PM2.5, ultrafine particles, and carbon monoxide. The route recommended by Safe Routes to School is inconsistently observed to have the lowest pollutant concentrations. Results indicate traveling along lower-volume roadways reduces walking exposure, while traveling along busier roadways results in exposure to greater pollutant concentrations. Walking exposure is found to be greater than driving exposure, but less than bus exposure. The maximum concentration for each pollutant was located along the most congested roadway. Pollutant concentrations for the walking mode are mapped to give visual representation of exposure fluctuations during a commute. This research reinforces the importance of selecting low-volume roadways for safety, but also to minimize exposure, and demonstrates a need for further research examining the factors that determine exposure along different street types ranging from arterial to neighborhood roadways. These results serve as a complement to existing environmental justice air quality research, serving as the link between exposure at the home and exposure at the school in urban areas.

This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADD50(1) Health and Transportation.

01470560

13-3315

English

10p

2013

Transportation Research Board 92nd Annual Meeting

Digital/other

Figures; Photos; References; Tables

Air quality; Environmental justice; Low volume roads; Pollutants; Route choice; School trips; Students

Safe Routes to School (Program)

Environment; Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Public Transportation; I15: Environment

Transportation Research Board Annual Meeting 2013 Paper #13-3315

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Feb 5 2013 12:40PM