01587093

Component

https://doi.org/10.3141/2570-01

Ramps serve as the connections between restricted access highways and other road facilities, and considering the intensity of acceleration and deceleration occurring on ramps, the operation on ramps may contribute a significant amount of criteria-pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions from highway operation. In this study, second-by-second speed and position data were collected from 10 vehicles in the Detroit, Michigan, metropolitan area during their daily commute trips in 2012 using a portable activity measurement system. Ramp-associated operations were extracted from these measurements using ArcGIS, and emission rates were assigned based on model runs of the MOtor Vehicle Emission Simulator, or MOVES. In general, emissions of light-duty vehicles estimated for ramp operation are about two to three times higher than those for highway operation (excluding ramps) and local cycles with average speed levels higher than 30 mph. Emissions for interchange ramps are estimated to be similar to highway emissions. Accelerations occurring immediately after vehicles enter the highway from on-ramps contribute a large portion of emissions from ramp operations, since high-power operations are involved. This point applies especially to loop on-ramps, where the emission rate immediately after entering the highways tends to be higher than driving within the physical ramp itself. This research will be useful for understanding basic ramp operation characteristics and their emissions effects, and it will be important for development of ramp classification systems and generic ramp driving cycles, for emissions modeling and ramp hot-spot analysis.

01590543

16-1741

English

pp 1–11

2016

Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board

9780309369923

Print

Figures (9) ; References (6) ; Tables (2)

Freeways; Greenhouse gases; Interchange ramps; Light trucks; Measurement of specific phenomena; Pollutants; Speed

Motor Vehicle Emission Simulator (MOVES)

Light duty vehicles; Portable emission measurement systems; Vehicle specific power

Detroit (Michigan)

Energy; Environment; Highways; Operations and Traffic Management; Vehicles and Equipment

TRIS, TRB, ATRI

Jan 12 2016 4:44PM

• Assessment of the Carbon Footprint Reductions of Tricycle Logistics Services
• Comparison of Parallel and Series Hybrid Power Trains for Transit Bus Applications
• Comparison of Vehicle-Specific Fuel Use and Emissions Models Based on Externally and Internally Observable Activity Data
• Deriving Local Operating Distributions to Estimate Transit Bus Emissions Across an Urban Network
• Development of Macroscopic Emission Estimation Model Based on Microscopic Operating Modes
• Emissions Analysis for a Transit Corridor Under Different Improvement Strategies
• Emissions Modeling with MOVES and EMFAC to Assess the Potential for a Transportation Project to Create Particulate Matter Hot Spots
• Estimating Project-Level Vehicle Emissions with Vissim and MOVES-Matrix
• Evaluation of Light-Duty Gasoline Vehicle Rated Fuel Economy Based on In-Use Measurements
• Measuring Pedestrian Exposure to PM-2.5: Case of the Seattle, Washington, International District
• Microsimulation-Based Emissions Modeling for a Major Infrastructure Renewal Plan: Assessment of Network Attributes and Land Use Effects on Vehicular Emissions
• Modeled Effects of Traffic Fleet Composition on the Toxicity of Volatile Organic Compound Emissions
• Modeling Criteria and Air Toxic Pollutants in Light-Duty Biodiesel Exhaust
• Optimized Adjustment of Speed Resolution and Time Alignment Data for Improving Emissions Estimations