Study on air pollution from congested road traffic / Shahreena Melati Rhasbudin Shah and Suryaefiza Karjanto

Juru, located at the south of 8eberang Perai, Pulau Pinang is known for high congestion problem occurs especially durinq peak hours. The vehicles plying along the roads emit
pollutions that may be harmful to nearby residence. Congestion problems at the road due to rapid growth in traffic volume are reflected by increasing urbanisation and the changing land use pattern from industrial to residential areas. The report presents the results of roadside pollutant concentration results from traffic and influence by meteorological conditions from congested road in Juru, 8eberang Perai, Pulau Pinang. Data is gathered by means of traffic stream parameters (volume and speed), monitoring of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (N02 ) and sulphur dioxide (802 ) concentrations and recording of air temperature simultaneously. The pollutants were monitored during congested and free flow conditions. throughout the day, so that the emission contribution of vehicles to pollutions levels could be distinguished Mathematical models are developed for CO, 802 and N02, expressing pollution concentrations as functions of traffic movement and air temperature The findings indicate that the pollutants level were three times higher when the road in the congested state. It also shows that the average air pollutant concentrations in the morning and evening
are noticeably higher than in the afternoon due to the influence of higher traffic density and lower air temperature The average weekday roadside concentrations of CO and 802 were two times higher than the weekend concentrations while N02 concentration shows no major
difference. Based on the study, it can be concluded that there is a strong positive relationship between traffic parameters and air pollution.