NEW TECHNIQUE FOR EVALUATING URBAN TRAFFIC ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND EMISSIONS

This paper describes the development of a computerized tool designed to provide accurate, location-specific estimates of fuel consumption and vehicle emissions, stratified by vehicle type. This tool is an extension of the UTCS-1 microscopic traffic simulation program developed previously for the Federal Highway Administration. Data bases representing fuel comsumption and emission rates are provided by other models developed for the Transportation Systems Center and the Environmental Protection Agency respectively. These data bases and the models that produced them are described. Results obtained by applying the extendedUTCS-1 model to networks representing a portion of the CBD in Washington, D.C., are presented. First, the effects of allowing right turns on red on traffic operations and on fuel consumption and vehicle emissions are assessed. Then a comparison is made of two signal timing patterns. These results indicate that right turns on red can improve fuel consumption by approximately 4 percent and reduce emissions by 6 percent. Improving signal timing patterns for the cases studied can produce a 25 percent improvement in fuel consumption and vehicle emissions.