International Union of Air Pollution Prevention
and Environmental Protection Association
and
Integrated Program
on Urban, Regional and Global Air Pollution
JOINT SEMINAR
REDUCING THE IMPACT OF VEHICLES
ON AIR AND ENVIRONMENT QUALITY IN CITIES
Hotel Royal Pedregal, Mexico City
January 22 - 23 2004
An international seminar for invited participants to review the
effectiveness of alternative policy instruments, for tackling air
pollution in major and mega-cities, drawing in particular on recent
work in Mexico City.
Issues and Objectives
In most cities, at whatever stage of economic and population growth, road transport is now the major and most rapidly increasing source of air quality problems.There are a wide range of alternative technological and policy instruments for addressing the problems, and accumulating evidence of their relative impacts in different cultural and economic circumstances. What is lacking, however is a coherent framework for identifying and assessing which combinations of measures (technical, regulatory and economic) are most likely to be effective in different circumstances, and the systems approach which can integrate transport, environmental and land use policies, to deliver long-term change – not only in terms of air pollution but also other aspects of environmental quality.
A key aim of the coming 13th World Congress will be to review progress in this area. Using as its baseline the major study by Mario and Luisa Molina in Mexico City this preparatory seminar aims to review the international evidence and prepare guidance and conclusions for wider debate in the World Congress.
The report for this workshop is being distributed via downloadable PDF. Just click on the link below:
OUTLINE PROGRAMME
Thursday, January 22, 2004
Session 1 (09:00- 11:30 )
Introduction
This Introductory Session will have three main elements:
- Presentation by Mario and Luisa Molina of the principal conclusions and implications from their current programme in Mexico City, relevant to transport measures for abating air pollution in mega-cities.
Speaker: Mario Molina (30 min)
- Responses and comparative perspectives from other cities
Speakers (15 min for each presentation)
- Menno Keuken
(Netherlands)
- Ivo Allegrini
and Francesca Costabile (Italy) - European
and Chinese cities
- Alan Gertler
(USA) – Cairo, Egypt
- Oscar Figueroa
- Santiago de Chile
- Eduardo Vasconcellos
- São Paulo, Brasil
- Darío Hidalgo
– Bogotá, Colombia
- Preliminary discussion, focusing in particular on the relative importance of technical measures, planning policy changes and economic signals and incentives.
Session 2 (12:00-14:00)
Cleaning Up Vehicles and Educating Drivers
Dramatic reductions can be achieved in tail pipe emissions by cleaner conventional or alternative fuels; improvements in vehicle technology; vehicle inspection, maintenance and scrappage programmes; and measures to encourage better driving. and traffic management. But progress can be largely offset by rising vehicle numbers, which in turn bring the wider environmental problems of congestion.
This session will aim to clarify:
- How far there is consensus on the relative cost-effectiveness of the different technological and fuel changes now available;
- How far any such consensus points to the feasibility of a general evaluation framework that could allow optimal planning programmes to be identified.
- How far such technical solutions can take us – and what would remain to be tackled through other changes, notably to planning and economic systems;
- How helpful can Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) technologies be in reducing congestion and emissions and improving the quality of service offered by public transportation.
Lead Contributor
(30 min)
Michael Walsh (US) - Motor Vehicle Pollution Control: Lessons Learned Over The Past Thirty Years
Other Contributors (15 min for each presentation):
Nicolas Rodriguez (PEMEX) - Mexican perspective on fuel and technology
Robert Slott (MIT), John Rogers (Trafalgar) - Inspection and Maintenance
Menno Keuken (Netherlands) - Impacts of Speed and Driver Behaviour
Session 3 (15:30- 17:30)
Managing Demand: Economic Instruments
An alternative – or supplement – to reliance on technology and planning system changes may be use of economic signals and incentives: vehicle and driver taxes, congestion charging and more general road pricing. While they may appear easier to implement and quicker in their impact, there are some important questions:
- Can the be effective in reducing vehicle use, given the intensity of demand and, sometimes, absence of other transport modes;
- Vehicle and fuel taxes can be a blunt instrument. But, in the light of experience in London and elsewhere, can the alternatives – congestion charging and road pricing – be practical and effective;
- Could more traditional regulatory measures (radical parking controls, low emission zones, no-driving days etc.) achieve similar ends as effectively?
Lead Contributor:
(30 minute)
Sir Christopher Foster (UK) - Pricing, planning and new technology:
Other Contributors:
(15 min presentation each)
Juan Pablo Montero (Santiago) - Pollution Markets with Imperfectly
David Hutchinson (UK) - Congestion Charging in London
Friday, January 23, 2004
Session 4 (09:00-11:30)
Planning and Implementation Constraints
Developed and developing cities alike face a similar dilemma:
More widely distributed settlement patterns (whether planned or
unplanned) are increasing demand for private vehicle use, yet new
road construction must be expected to induce further demand, while
development of new mass transit system alternatives may be inhibited
by high investment costs and planning constraints.
There appear to be some cities where the planning system has allowed environmentally sustainable solutions to vehicle growth. But often the planning system is simply too weak to respond to the pressures on it and allow effective planned intervention. At the same time in some more stable cities, as for instance in Europe, the complex and conservative character of the planning system can itself inhibit the changes required.
This session will explore:
- How far problems and potential responses are common across cities of contrasting stages of economic growth;
- How far and in what circumstances it is realistic to look to changes in the planning system to allow the damaging impact of car use to be reduced;
- what institutional change strategies may be needed to achieve an integrated and systems-based approach.
Introductory
Presentation: (30 min)
James Longhurst - Action Planning for Air Quality Improvement: Comparative Perspectives
Other Contributors: (15 min presentation each)
Manuel Lopez (Mexico)
Arnaldo Pereira (Sao Paolo)
Jorge Acevedo (Bogotá)
Pedro Oyola (Santiago),Ivo Allegrini (Italy)
David Hutchinson (Low Emission Zones)
Session 5 (12:00-17:00)
ConclusionsConsideration of conclusions and of the issues to be incorporated
in a report to the World Clean Air Congress and other bodies.
