This study assesses transportation-related emissions across Edmonton's land use zones using a bottom-up urban vehicular emission inventory, with the goal of exploring potential Low Emission Zones (LEZs). LEZs have been successfully implemented in cities worldwide, including London, Santa Monica, and Beijing, and are also in place in Toronto's North York area through restricted road actions. Given Edmonton's Climate Resilience Planning and Development Action Plan on low carbon transportation, LEZs represent a viable pathway for further exploration.
Edmonton's Zoning Bylaw Geographical Data includes heavy and medium-sized industrial areas adjacent to residential neighborhoods, which contributes to the formation of emission hotspots. Beside establishing the zone-based mobile source emissions, the study will evaluate impact of LEZ common policies, for both groups of heavy-duty vehicles (HDVs) and light-duty vehicles (LDVs), by calculating the spatial and temporal distributions of GHG and (Criteria Air Contaminants) CACs emissions which can help identifying the action zones. This model is coupled with a spatial visualization tool, to support understanding the impact of traffic restrictions on neighborhoods.
