Improving Community Health through Detailed Emissions Modeling: A Case Study of Bay Area Air Quality Management District
Technology Category
- Sensors - Air Pollution Sensors
- Sensors - Environmental Sensors
Applicable Industries
- Cities & Municipalities
- Transportation
Applicable Functions
- Quality Assurance
- Warehouse & Inventory Management
Use Cases
- Continuous Emission Monitoring Systems
- Indoor Air Quality Monitoring
Services
- Testing & Certification
About The Customer
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (Air District) is a regional air pollution control agency created by the California Legislature in 1955. The Air District regulates stationary sources of air pollution in the nine counties that surround San Francisco Bay, with the goal of achieving and maintaining state and national ambient air quality standards. The Air District is responsible for developing and implementing “community focused” strategies to reduce exposures in communities most impacted by air pollution, in partnership with the environmental justice community. West Oakland was selected as the first community to be evaluated under AB617 by the Air District due to its proximity to surrounding freeways, the Port of Oakland, major railyards, and heavy industries.
The Challenge
The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (Air District) was established in 1955 as the first regional air pollution control agency in the United States. Despite significant improvements in regional air quality since its inception, some communities in the San Francisco Bay Area still experience higher pollution levels due to their proximity to pollution sources such as freeways, busy distribution centers, and large industrial facilities. In 2017, the California State Assembly passed Assembly Bill 617 (AB617) to reduce exposures in communities most impacted by air pollution. West Oakland was selected as the first community to be evaluated under AB617 due to its proximity to surrounding freeways, the Port of Oakland, major railyards, and heavy industries. The Air District, in partnership with local environmental justice advocates, community members, industry representatives, and other stakeholders, formed a Steering Committee to develop a community emission reduction plan, referred to as the West Oakland Action Plan. The goal of this action plan was to reduce the health effects of air pollution in West Oakland through adoption of targeted mitigation strategies.
The Solution
The Air District contracted with Citilabs®, now part of Bentley Systems, to acquire Streetlytics data for Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Streetlytics was the only provider of the detailed roadway telematics needed for the emission inventory and modeling analysis. The datasets used in combination with other sources to develop the detailed roadway emission inventory included an accurate geospatial roadway network, average vehicle counts by season, day of week, and hour of day along each roadway segment, average vehicle speed per hour for each roadway segment, and roadway segment characteristics. Using the Streetlytics data combined with emission factors from EMFAC2017 and other supplemental data, the Air District was able to develop a detailed emissions inventory that included running exhaust, running loss, tire wear, brake wear, and resuspended road dust along each roadway link in West Oakland. In 2020, the Air District expanded their use of Streetlytics data by acquiring the complete nine-county San Francisco Bay Area dataset. This will allow the Air District to develop detailed roadway emissions inventories for the remaining communities selected in the Bay Area under the AB617 program over the next five years.
Operational Impact
Quantitative Benefit
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