| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/J50613/01 |
| Title: |
EFFECTS OF STREET GRID CONFIGURATION ON PEDESTRIAN EXPOSURETO VEHICULAR POLLUTION : CIVILISING URBAN TRAFFIC |
| Principal Investigator: |
Penn, Professor A |
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| Department: |
Bartlett Sch of Architecture |
| Organisation: |
UCL |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
04 January 1994 |
Ends: |
03 January 1996 |
Value (£): |
151,552
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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Traffic calming by altering the street grid configuration is potentially of use in helping to alleviate the environmental effects of increasing urban traffic volumes. At present however, we do not well understand how the fine scale configuration of the street grid affects the production of vehicular emissions, dispersal by wind and consumption by the pedestrian population. Part of the problem is a shortage of kerbside pollution data at the micro-scale in residential neighbourhoods and back streets. This project builds on recent research (SERC GR/G/23609) which found that grid configuration determines over 70% of variance in both pedestrian and vehicular flow rates in urban areas. Using solid substrate passive diffusion sampler tubes and a photoacoustic gas analyser with a thermal desorber, economic methods will be developed for gathering simultaneous 8-24 hour mean carbon monoxide concentrations in 50-60 street segments of a North London study area where patterns of pedestrian and vehicular movement are well understood. Since the new passive diffusion sampler methods have not been widely used for monitoring external vehicular emissions, the project will validate the methods using gas chromatography and by locating comparison tubes at national kerbside monitoring points in the vicinity. This will also allow ratios of CO to other pollutants to be investigated. The main aim is to find out whether vehicular flow patterns lead to significant differences in pollutant concentrations in different parts of the street grid. Measures of local wind velocity will be used to assess whether the configuration of building blocks coupled to prevailing atmospheric conditions affects pollution distribution in any regular way in the fine structure of the urban street grid. Sampling will be repeated under different seasonal and weather conditions. By bringing together data on locational variations in mean pollution concentrations with knowledge of pedestrian flow patterns, estimates will be made of the pedestrian population's exposure levels. Methods for predicting the effect of traffic calming options on pedestrian exposure using configurational analysis will then be investigated.
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Key Findings |
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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