Assessment of traffic congestion in Hong Kong, and prediction of street-level CO concentration using a graphical screening method

Abstract

The rapid growth in vehicle population and traffic volume in the past few years has offset the efforts of government to improve the poor traffic conditions in Hong Kong. This has intensified traffic congestion and hence the traffic-related pollution problems in the territory of Hong Kong, particularly in urban areas. Prediction was carried out using a simple graphical screening (SIMGS) method to project the future peak carbon monoxide (CO) levels at some black spots in urban areas. The output from the SIMGS method was found to agree well with the measured data and justified its use for forecasting the future air quality. The predicted results showed that the peak hourly CO concentration at street level would follow an upward path in the next decade, but would still be within the Hong Kong Air Quality Objective limit. However, in assessing the effectiveness of a fuel switching proposal, it was found that there would be a significant increase in CO concentration in the next decade.