This document provides an overview of a presentation on urban air quality management in India. It discusses the effects of urbanization globally and in India, including rapid population growth and increased air pollution in cities. It outlines the major sources of air pollution in Indian cities, particularly particulate emissions from vehicles, and associated health impacts. The document then reviews policies that have been implemented in India to reduce emissions, such as promoting public transportation and enforcing stricter vehicle standards, and evaluates their effectiveness, such as the mixed results of Delhi's odd-even driving restrictions. It concludes by comparing different urban transportation modes and their tradeoffs in addressing traffic and emissions.

1. Presentation on
Urban Air Quality Management
by
M. Rupas Kumar
Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering
IIIT Ongole
Rajiv Gandhi University of Knowledge Technologies, Andhra Pradesh
Organized by
Institute of Engineers Students Chapter (531162/RC/CV)
Department of Civil Engineering
Raghu Engineering College
Vishakhapatnam, India
08-01-2022

2. Contents
• Urbanization and its effects
• Urban Air pollution in India
• Particulate emissions - Health Hazards
• Policies suggested and implemented across
India to control the emissions
• Comprehensive study of the polices
• Summary and Conclusions

3. Urbanization
Urbanization is the way the population shift from rural to urban areas,
"the gradual increase in the proportion of people living in urban areas",
and the ways in which each society adapts to the change.
• Only 2% of
the world's population was
urbanized in 1800 (Kundu and
Pandey, 2020)
• Over 50% of the population lives
in urban areas today globally as per
the records of the World Bank.
• By 2045, the world's urban
population will increase by 1.5
times to 6 billion. By 2050 it’s
projected that more than two-thirds
of the world population will live in
urban areas (Ritchie and Roser,
2018).
(Source: https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/09/mapped-the-dramatic-global-rise-of-urbanization-1950-2020/) as seen on 07.01.22

4. Factors of Urbanization

5. Urbanization across the world
(Source: The World Economic forum, 2020 as
seen on 08.01.22)
(Source: European Environment Agency, 2020
as seen on 08.01.22)

6. Urbanization in India
• Urbanization is witnessed at
a faster rate in India due to a
rapid rise in economic
growth and developments in
the industrial sector.
• Holt (2018) projected high
rates of urban growth in
India, articulating that 17
out of 20 world’s rapidly
growing cities during 2019-
2035 will be from India.
(Source: https://engineered.thyssenkrupp.com/en/urbanization-in-india-creating-housing-
thinking-urban-mobility-ahead/ as seen on 08.01.22)

7. India – Urban Population Growth
(Source: https://eco-intelligent.com/2018/12/10/urbanisation-trends-in-india/ as seen on 08.01.22
India has been dominated by agricultural landscapes throughout this time. Even
today, agriculture employs more than half of the population in the country. However,
this is fast changing. India is heavily investing in industrial and technological
development, which means urbanization is an inevitable result.

8. (Source: https://environmental-conscience.com/causes-effects-solutions-for-urban-sprawl/
Urban Sprawl: Causes, effects and Solutions

9. Urban Air Pollution in India
• Transportation sector accounts for significant amount of Air pollution in India
ensuing numerous health hazards to commuters.
• It is estimated that air pollution is resulting in 1.2 million deaths every year and
costing the economy an estimated 3% of GDP in India in addition to numerous
health hazards (Dahiya et al., 2017).
• According to the global air pollution observatory maintained by WHO, 13 cities
of India are listed in world's top 20 cities with its capital city New Delhi
leading all other Indian cities (Gordon et al. 2018).
• The recent studies revealed that compared to exhaust emissions, the Particulate
matter generated from the non-exhaust sources is the major pollutant responsible
for declining air quality in both Urban and Rural India.
12/9/2021 9

10. Number of registered motor vehicles across India by Major
city in FY 2019 (in millions)
(Source: https://www.statista.com/statistics/664874/registered-
motor-vehicles-by-major-cities-india/)
The particulate emissions and their associated health impacts are being
witnessed to be at high levels in megacities than other towns and
villages of India due to rapid urbanization, and high population density
associated with large personalized vehicle fleet (Liu et al., 2018).

11. Air Quality Index
AQI Value Levels of Concern
0 to 50 Good
51 to 100 Moderate
101 to 150 Unhealthy for
sensitive groups
151 to 200 Unhealthy
201 to 300 Very unhealthy
Over 300 Hazardous

12. Particulate matter – Health Effects
• Particulate matter (PM) refers to “the particle concentration in
ambient air and often denoted by PM10 and PM2.5, referring to the
particles less than 10 μm and 2.5 μm respectively” (Timmers and
Achten, 2016).
• Although PM pollutants are generally seen as harmful agents affecting
the human respiratory system, the recent studies on air pollution
showcased that particulate matter exposure is leading to numerous
health hazards such as Heart diseases (Yang et al., 2019); infant
mortality (Heft-Neal et al., 2011); neonatal jaundice (Zhang et al.,
2019); oxidative stress (Lawal, 2017); atherosclerosis (Brook and
Rajagopalan, 2010); less birth weight (Dadvand et al., 2014);
premature birth (van den Hooven et al., 2012); damage of DNA
(Coronas et al., 2009); lesser red blood cells in children (Nikolić et
al., 2008); hypertension (Blazer et al., 2001); Increased platelet
activation (Delfino et al., 2009); and lung cancer (Pope et al., 2002).

13. Source Proposed Strategies
Shrivastava et
al., (2019)
Promotion of bicycling, battery-driven and solar-powered vehicles
Sharma et al.,
(2018)
Maintenance of roads, restricting car ownership by high taxation,
improvement of public transport and non-motorized transport, use of electric
vehicles
Ramachandra
(2016)
Stringent measures for reducing emissions from vehicles and fuels, adoption
of taxation regime to control private vehicles, Improvement of the public
transport system
Sengupta (2015)
Development of separate lanes for buses and other travel modes to reduce
traffic congestion and emissions, stringent measures for vehicle emission
control, adoption of cleaner fuels, continuous air monitoring
Singh and
Grover (2015)
Promoting public transportation and carpooling, strict policy measures,
continuous inspection of vehicles and fuels
Guttikunda et
al., (2014)
Enforcement of emission standards to vehicles and fuels, promotion of
alternative fuels, maintaining clean public transport systems, congestion
pricing, policies promoting non-motorized modes of transport
Guttikunda
(2009)
Promotion of public transport and non-motorized transport, introduction of
stringent standards and traffic management
Suggested policy measures to control air pollution in Indian cities
12/9/2021 13

14. Initiatives of Delhi Government – Results
In parallel, huge investments were also made on the public transport
system under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission
(JNNURM) to heighten the bus services in Delhi (MoUD, 2012).
However, the personalized vehicular fleet continued to increase in
Delhi leading to traffic emissions

15. Initiatives of Delhi Government – Results
The government of Delhi made an
attempt by directing the commuters
to operate the vehicles fueled with
compressed natural gas (CNG) as it
is conceived to be a cleaner-fuel than
conventional fuels (diesel and petrol).
However, the steady supply of CNG
gas by increasing outlets coupled
with lower prices encouraged the
public to adopt personalized CNG
fueled vehicles (Goel and
Guttikunda, 2015) resulting in the
high vehicular fleet, traffic
congestion and their associated
emissions.

16. Initiatives of Delhi Government – Results
“Odd-even scheme” launched in 2016 by the Delhi government
that allowed 4-wheeler vehicles on roads during daytime as per
the vehicle registration numbers on alternate days. Nevertheless,
the policy ensued an increase in particulate matter concentration
due to the perseverance of overnight emissions from heavy goods
vehicular fleet into the daytime (Kumar et al., 2017).
Then What Can be done????????

17. Urban Transport Modes – Space Requirement
Road space required in different travel modes (Todd Litman,
2013)

18. Mode of road transport Pros Cons
Walking
• Environmental friendly by
rendering zero emissions
• Improved health benefits
• Occupies less road space per
passenger
• No charges of parking
• Consumes more travel time for
commuting to places
• The highest exposure to air
pollutants due to higher inhalation
rates and active mode of travel
• Suitable to less distance travelling
compared to all other modes
Cycling
• Offers almost zero emissions
with a negligible tire, brake
and surface wear due to
cycling on roads
• Improved health benefits
next to Walking
• Higher speeds and
comfortable longest distance
commuting than walking
• Higher exposure to air pollutants
than motorized transport
• The requirement of infrastructural
facilities like cycling lanes and
parking lots for bicycles to avoid
accidents and to ensure a
comfortable travel
• Suitable for moderate to smaller
distances only
Characteristics of Urban Transport Modes

19. Mode of road
transport
Pros Cons
Public
Transport by
Bus
Promotes mass transport and
occupies least space per
passenger than all modes of
road transport
Economical compared to
personalized motor transport
Consumes less fuel and energy
levels per passenger than
personalized motor transport
Inability to provide door to door
service to commuters
Demands for separate bus lanes
otherwise leads to traffic congestion
in areas of the high vehicle fleet
Requires feeder transport to offer
more serviceability
Generates exhaust and non-exhaust
emissions
Personalized
Vehicle
Transport
(Eg. Cars,
Motor Bikes)
Reduction of travel time
Offers door to door Service
Offers comfort than all
transport modes
Flexibility than public
transportation
Higher vehicular fleet per unit length
leading to more emissions and traffic
congestion
A requirement of parking spaces
Additional expenses due to parking
charges
Prone to more accidents due to
unregulated traffic
Characteristics of Urban Transport Modes

20. Mode of
road
transport
Pros Cons
Public
Transport by
Informal
modes
(Eg. Auto
rickshaws,
Car Sharing)
Consumer cost savings than
personalized transport modes
Characterized by profit-
making motive leading to high
occupancy that causes
discomfort
Contributes to more traffic
congestion
A requirement of less parking space
than personalized transport
Prone to more accidents due to
unregulated traffic
Services are offered only along the
main routes disabling the catering of
door to door service
Characteristics of Urban Transport Modes
Therefore, every urban transport mode has its unique
characteristics, Pros and Cons

21. Non-motorized Transport
Although traffic congestion and its associated
emissions could be minimised by the adoption of
NMT modes, the degree of air pollution exposure
while commuting is also a matter of concern.
It can be observed from the recent studies that
there is no consensus on the degree of commuter's
exposure to air pollutants under various urban
transit modes.
While some studies stated motorized travel mode
(e.g. car, bus, and motorcycle) resulted in higher
particulate pollution exposure (Kingham et al.,
2013; Betancourt et al., 2017), some studies
identified higher risk to commuter under NMT
modes (Okokon et al., 2017; Goel et al., 2015).

22. Public Transportation
• In recent times, the promotion of public road transport system is
considered as a promising solution to congestion of traffic and
deteriorating air quality in urban areas.
• The research attempts made on urban public transport services
indicated that the efficiency and utility of the same can be
evaluated by public satisfaction levels.
Service Attributes
 Safety, comfort, and cleanliness
 Information and communication to passengers
 Accessibility and Coverage
 Terminals and stop points performance
 Lines (routes) performance
 General elements like ticketing, and bus hours
 Compound indicators like vehicle scheduling.

23. Public Perceptions on Public Transport Services
Public transport attributes Delhi Mumbai Kolkata Chennai Bengaluru Hyderabad
Share of Traffic in
Indian cities
Public transport 19% 12% 32% 26% 15% 39%
Taxi/Cab 35% 31% 26% 24% 33% 14%
Auto Rickshaw 14% 27% 32% 17% 27% 10%
Personal vehicle 30% 26% 6.0% 31% 20% 35%
NMT 2.0% 4.0% 4.0% 2.0% 5.0% 2.0%
Public transport
perception score
(Out of 10)
Safety 6.24 5.70 6.13 5.22 6.17 5.72
Cleanliness 5.91 5.37 6.05 4.86 5.54 5.53
Affordability 5.91 5.37 6.25 4.86 5.54 5.53
Coverage and
availability
7.51 7.32 7.50 7.51 8.11 8.76
Parking
availability near
transit stops
3.98 3.45 3.75 3.41 3.81 3.96
Surface quality of roads 5.64 4.64 5.46 4.04 5.32 4.96
Condition of footpaths and cycle
tracks
4.16 3.55 3.93 3.44 3.94 3.94
(Source: Tiwari and Raman, 2018)

24. Role of Electric Vehicles
Although EVs are found to be
effective in minimizing exhaust
emissions, their utilization is observed
to be ineffective in controlling PM
emissions generated from non-exhaust
sources, such as tire wear, brake wear,
road surface wear and resuspension of
road dust (Thorpe and Harrison, 2008;
Soret et al., 2014).
Compared to Internal combustion engine vehicles
(ICEVs), EVs has a much higher weight (23%) as a
result of the added batteries weight and has 10% less
power (Martins et al., 2013).

25. Contd.
Timmers and Achten (2016 and 2018) obtained similar results
indicating EVs tend to weigh 24% more compared to ICEVs
and outlined EVs as significant contributors to PM. In addition to
the batteries, the vehicle components such as chargers, electric
motors, controllers and other accessories make the EVs heavier
than ICEVs (Holms and Argueta, 2010).
Simons (2013) indicated the direct proportionality of PM
emission factors to the vehicle weight and expressed higher
emission factors to tire, brake, and road surface wear for
heavyweight vehicles compared to lightweight vehicles.
Therefore, it is evident that the usage of EVs results in the
generation of non-exhaust PM emissions though they are proved
to minimize exhaust emissions and hence, the proclamation
stating “EVs as emission-free” may be unjustified.

26. Parking Charges – Cities Across the World
Cities across
the World
Parking charges per
day in Central
Business District (in
US Dollars)
Indian Cities
Parking charges per
day in Central
Business District (in
US Dollars)
London 65.97 Bengaluru 1.54
Tokyo 62.00 Delhi 1.32
New York 41.00 Mumbai 1.11
Hong Kong 28.25 Chennai 0.99
Singapore 24.59
Mexico City 15.00
Bangkok 13.20
Beijing 7.05
Dubai 4.08
(Source: HUS, 2019)

27. Successful Strategies across the world
• Congestion pricing scheme induced the reduction of PM10 levels by
15%, 13%, and 15% in London, Stockholm, and Milan respectively
(Croci, 2016).
• Also, the policy of creating low emission zones (LEZs) restricting
the polluting vehicles witnessed a significant reduction of particulate
matter concentrations in German cities.
• Car sharing programme in Newyork City (PlaNYC 2011)
• Citywide campaigns launched in Copenhagen to promote
commuting by cycling led to the reduction of individual motorized
transport (Carstensen et al., 2015).
• Initiatives such as “Spare the Air” programme in San Francisco
(BAAQMDR, 2011) and “CityAir App” in London (Howard et al.,
2016) were proved successful in delivering the local air quality
information to the public and thereby reduced the pollution exposure
levels.

28. Summary
• Particulate emissions generated from Non-exhaust sources are
caused numerous health hazards to the public and huge loss to
economy in Urban Centres across the world and India in
particular
• In order to minify the particulate emissions, separate lines for
walking and cycling need to be laid in Indian Cities and public
transport system need to be designed meeting the public
requirements and objectives
• Light weight electric cars must be promoted so that non-exhaust
emissions will not generated while commuting
• Strategies witnessed across the world shall be gradually
implemented with the public support

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[Online Resource]

31. Thank You
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