Performance period: 1/1/2017 to 8/31/2017

Project description

Whereas public deciders often lack detailed information on the volume and on the spatial shape of trips linked to urban road freight (URF), Light and Heavy Goods Vehicles are accused of contributing to a substantial share of the environmental nuisances in cities. By coupling three modeling exercises, this article estimates the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxide (NOx) and fine particulate matter (PM10) emitted by URF in the Paris region. Using the Freturb model, we first show that each firm emits and/or receives an average of 6.3 freight operations per week, thus generating around 890,000 freight trips per day. Crossing this information with OD matrix for private cars trips, we then implement a traffic assignment model which gives equilibrium traffic flows, compositions, and speeds at the road link level. In a third step, these traffic data are used to estimate pollutant emissions thanks to the Copcete calculator: URF is responsible for 20-30% of CO2, NOx and PM10 emitted by road traffic in the Paris region, whilst accounting for 8% of the total traveled distances. These aggregate results hide major spatial differences: the higher the population density within a zone, the more intensively used the roads therein, the lower the traffic speed, and the larger the environmental nuisances from URF. We additionally propose a simplified indicator of individuals' exposure and we estimate the social costs of local pollutants from road traffic in the Paris region. The monetary valuation of environmental damages linked to the mobility of households amounts to 0.55% of the regional GDP. The corresponding ratio for URF is 0.39%.