UCDrive: a new gridded mobile source emission inventory model

Current modeling methods are inadequate for producing gridded mobile source inventories suitable for simulating fine-scale changes in emissions for transportation planning or regulatory control purposes. In this paper, we present a new model that more precisely simulates small-scale emission changes that can arise from, for example, implementation of traffic control measures in transportation networks. The new model, UCDrive, directly interfaces with most travel demand models and with California's regulatory emission factor model EMFAC2001/2002. The model improves the sensitivity of emission estimates to variations in vehicle speeds and uses a theoretically consistent approach to spatially disaggregating mobile emissions. To demonstrate application of the model we use the Sacramento area network to perform a comparison study. We show that regional emissions with the new model replicate regulatory inventories, which is critical for using the model for regulatory purposes. We also show that the new model's results better replicate regulatory totals than those derived with a frequently used gridded emissions inventory model. The new model should improve the ability to better simulate changes in mobile emissions from transportation projects and help to bridge the gap between gridded mobile emission inventories and regional mobile emission inventories. (C) 2003 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.