Author(s)

L. Int Panis, L. De Nocker & R. Torfs

Abstract

The main goal of this paper is to evaluate the consequences for air quality of modal shifts between passenger cars (incl, car-pooling), motorcycles and city buses. This evaluation is based on the calculation of environmental external costs. The analysis will be complemented with a literature review of congestion and accident related externalities of different modes to allow a meaningful comparison. The assessment of environmental impacts through air pollution is based on the ExternE methodology, which was developed within a European wide project, co-funded by the European Commission. It is based on a detailed ‘impact-pathway analysis’, which aims to quantify impacts on human health, crops, materials and ecosystems in 4 consecutive steps: specification of emissions, dispersion simulation, impact assessment with dose-response functions and monetary valuation. Motorcycles are the third category of road vehicles for passenger transport for which we have calculated externalities with this methodology. This paper is the first in which our results for motorcycles are presented and discussed. Motorcycles with different cylinder capacities between 50 and 750cc are compared, Based on the results of previous studies on passenger cars and buses, we can now compare three major vehicles for passenger transport while taking differences in capacity into account. Calculations with a simplified world model provide us with a means to distinguish the different impacts that are dominant in cities, rural areas and on highways, We assess which pollutants are dominant in the assessment of external costs and which measures could be taken for the abatement of motorcycle emissions. This could result in recommendations for the drafting of Euro2 emissions standards for motorcycles by the European Commission,

Keywords