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Air pollution and urban road transport: evidence from the world’s largest low-emission zone in London

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  • Muxin Zhai

    (Texas State University)

  • Hendrik Wolff

    (Simon Fraser University)

Abstract

Low-emission zones (LEZs) have been implemented widely in Europe to tackle air pollution sourced from vehicular emissions. We quantify the effectiveness of the world's largest LEZ—London's LEZ—in reducing its target pollutant, PM10. Using a difference-in-difference (DID) framework, we find that the least stringent phase I of London's LEZ induced a short-term increase in the roadside PM10 within the zone by about 14.8%, whereas the longer and more restrictive phase II significantly drove down the PM10 by 5.5%. We explore the underlying reasons behind the disparity in policy effect across stages. We show that upon the introduction of phase I, the traffic volume of targeted heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) and temporarily exempted light goods vehicles (LGVs) has substantially increased, outweighing the environmental effect of a higher proportion of greener vehicles. We provide possible behavioral explanations for this phenomenon.

Suggested Citation

  • Muxin Zhai & Hendrik Wolff, 2021. "Air pollution and urban road transport: evidence from the world’s largest low-emission zone in London," Environmental Economics and Policy Studies, Springer;Society for Environmental Economics and Policy Studies - SEEPS, vol. 23(4), pages 721-748, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:envpol:v:23:y:2021:i:4:d:10.1007_s10018-021-00307-9
    DOI: 10.1007/s10018-021-00307-9
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    Cited by:

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    2. Katerina Vichova & Petr Veselik & Romana Heinzova & Radek Dvoracek, 2021. "Road Transport and Its Impact on Air Pollution during the COVID-19 Pandemic," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-15, October.
    3. Luis Sarmiento & Nicole Wägner & Aleksandar Zaklan, 2021. "Effectiveness, Spillovers, and Well-Being Effects of Driving Restriction Policies," Discussion Papers of DIW Berlin 1947, DIW Berlin, German Institute for Economic Research.
    4. Rivera, Nathaly M., 2021. "Air quality warnings and temporary driving bans: Evidence from air pollution, car trips, and mass-transit ridership in Santiago," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 108(C).
    5. Gonzalez, Juan Nicolas & Gomez, Juan & Vassallo, Jose Manuel, 2023. "Are low emission zones and on-street parking management effective in reducing parking demand for most polluting vehicles and promoting greener ones?," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    6. Choi, Minje & Ku, DongGyun & Kim, Sion & Kwak, Juhyeon & Jang, Yoonjung & Lee, Doyun & Lee, Seungjae, 2023. "Action plans on the reduction of mobility energy consumption based on personal mobility activation," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 263(PD).
    7. Sarmiento, Luis & Wägner, Nicole & Zaklan, Aleksandar, 2023. "The air quality and well-being effects of low emission zones," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 227(C).
    8. Krystian Pietrzak & Oliwia Pietrzak & Andrzej Montwiłł, 2021. "Effects of Incorporating Rail Transport into a Zero-Emission Urban Deliveries System: Application of Light Freight Railway (LFR) Electric Trains," Energies, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-24, October.
    9. Balaguer, Jacint & Pernías, José C. & Ripollés, Jordi, 2023. "Is vehicle scrapping affected by low-emission zones? The case of Madrid," Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Elsevier, vol. 172(C).
    10. Gruhl, Henri & Volkhausen, Nicolas & Pestel, Nico & aus dem Moore, Nils, 2022. "Air pollution and the housing market: Evidence from Germany's Low Emission Zones," Ruhr Economic Papers 977, RWI - Leibniz-Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-University Bochum, TU Dortmund University, University of Duisburg-Essen.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Low emission zone; Particulate matter; Difference-in-difference;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • Q51 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Valuation of Environmental Effects
    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • Q58 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Environmental Economics: Government Policy
    • R41 - Urban, Rural, Regional, Real Estate, and Transportation Economics - - Transportation Economics - - - Transportation: Demand, Supply, and Congestion; Travel Time; Safety and Accidents; Transportation Noise

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