Evaluation on the Effectiveness of Vehicle Exhaust Emission Control Measures During the APEC Conference in Beijing

Vehicle emission is one of the primary factors affecting the quality of atmospheric environment in Beijing. In order to improve the air quality during APEC conference, strict control measures including vehicle emission control were taken in Beijing during APEC meeting. Based on the activity level data of traffic volume, vehicle speed and vehicle types, the inventory of motor vehicle emissions in Beijing was developed following bottom-up methodology to assess the effectiveness of the control measures. The results showed that the traffic volume of Beijing road network during the APEC meeting decreased significantly, the vehicle speed increased obviously, and the largest decline of traffic volume was car. CO, NOx, HC and PM emissions of vehicle exhaust were reduced by 15.1%, 22.4%, 18.4% and 21.8% for freeways, 29.9%, 36.4%, 32.7% and 35.8% for major arterial, 35.7%, 41.7%, 38.4% and 41.2% for minor arterial, 40.8%, 46.5%, 43.1% and 46.0% for collectors, respectively. The vehicles exhaust emissions inventory before and during APEC conference was developed based on bottom-up emissions inventory method. The results indicated that CO, NOx, HC and PM emissions of vehicle exhaust were reduced by 37.5%, 43.4%, 39.9% and 42.9% in the study area, respectively.