Publications
Urban air pollution from road transport is a growing concern in many developing country cities. With rising incomes, motorized transport is expected to continue to increase in the coming years, further threatening air quality. Poor air quality has been shown to seriously affect public health, resulting in 3 million premature deaths from fine particulate air pollution alone around the world in 2012 according to the World Health Organization.
The need to tackle air pollution from transport is widely acknowledged. But the menu of options available is varied and can be daunting. Are there key questions that should be answered to guide policy making? Under what conditions are the different mitigation measures likely to achieve pollution reduction? Are there critical steps to be taken or underlying conditions that must be met, without which pollution reduction is unlikely? Which mitigation measures are robust, which may be implemented successfully, and which are still in the area of pilot testing?
This report is an abridged version of the full report and is intended as a companion to it. It was prepared to provide guidelines and principles for answering the questions above and other related questions. Given the varying nature of air pollution, pollution sources, and available resources, answers and even key policy questions will differ from country to country. Hence the report does not attempt to provide precise prescriptions applicable to all circumstances. It rather draws on lessons from international experience to propose a framework in which policy selection and implementation should occur. The three sectors most closely linked to vehicular air pollution are environment, transport, and energy. The report places a special emphasis on how to coordinate policies across the three and how to reconcile their sometimes conflicting objectives and demands in order to achieve environmental improvement.
Gwilliam, Ken; Kojima, Masami; and Johnson, Todd. 2005. Reducing Air Pollution from Urban Transport: Companion. Washington, DC: World Bank.
