Royal Parade air quality investigation and mitigation principles

Project details

Funding body: Plymouth City Council

Dates: June 2015 - January 2016

Project summary

Plymouth City Council commissioned the AQMRC at UWE Bristol to undertake an Investigation of air quality and mitigation principles with respect to Royal Parade, the city’s principal bus interchange, which has the highest recorded concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) in Plymouth.

The aim of the project was to better understand the air quality issues affecting the Royal Parade, in Plymouth, and establish options to reduce concentrations of NO2 and other traffic-related emissions. The investigation included baseline dispersion modelling, source apportionment of NOx emissions and contribution to NO2 concentrations by vehicle type, temporal analysis of NOx emissions by vehicle type and source, and modelling a range of scenarios to achieve the annual mean NO2 air quality objective.

Additional work included identifying the stages, processes, costs and timescale required to implement a Low Emission Zone for Royal Parade and throughout the city-wide AQMA. Modelling was undertaken using ADMS-Urban and the emission inventory tool, EMIT.

Please email Dr Jo Barnes at Jo.Barnes@uwe.ac.uk for more details.