On-road Air Pollution Exposure to Cyclists in an Agent-Based Simulation Framework

Abstract

Bicycle is not only a sustainable mode of transport but also health benefits of bicycling due to increased physical activities are well cited. However, in urban agglomerations, on-road air pollution exposure to cyclists/pedestrians is a matter of concern which is understudied. This study proposes an approach to calculate the on-road air pollution exposure for drivers of different vehicles in an agent-based simulation framework. In the proposed approach, the breathing rate of different drivers, penetration rate, vehicle-occupancy and background concentration are taken into consideration. The approach is applied to a real-world scenario of Patna, India where non-motorized modes are in abundance. A comparison of total inhaled mass per trip for drivers of different vehicles is made and it is found that cyclists are most exposed user group. An analysis for various background concentrations for different days of the year shows that the contribution of the background concentration has a major effect on the air pollution exposure level. The outcome is spatially analyzed to identify the locations of most affected user groups mapped to their home locations. Further, the on-road air pollution exposure of business-as-usual scenario is compared with a policy case and it is found that a dedicated bicycle track can increase the exposure per trip to cyclists by 40 %.