Project Healthy passenger transport
New project contributing to sustainability of passenger transport
12. 4. 2022
Air quality is at the top ten of problematic issues for human health of WHO. Due to the intensive usage of passenger cars (road traffic is 73% of all journeys), the car is one of the worst urban air polluters, where the increase in pollutant concentrations is particularly severe due to the high population density.
Although internal combustion engines are among the cleaner combustion devices, their emissions depend on how well the engine has been designed, manufactured, adjusted, maintained and operated. A substantial part of “more emissions” can be attributed to a relatively small fraction of vehicle users who do not maintain or intentionally manipulate their car (various chipping, modifications, removal of particulate filters, catalytic converter shutdown), which problem has been long pointed out by the Road Transport Services Centre at measuring emissions in real traffic. According to the Centre, a large part of the fumes is released into the air even by newer cars in poor technical condition, paradoxically more than, for example, older cars.
Regulation by itself will not make the population aware of how to use their vehicles better and will not change their attitude. It is thus necessary to draw attention to the negative impacts of transport emissions on the environment. Therefore, the aim of our project is – in form of an entertaining educational campaign – to increase citizens’ commitment to operating motor vehicles; and to maintaining their own vehicles, which could ultimately lead to a reduction of harmful emissions from transport.
With the means of a positively oriented educational campaign (videos, infographics, photographs), we wish to inform and motivate the inhabitants of cities and those who commute to the city to use their vehicles consciously, keep them in good technical condition and thus contribute to reducing harmful emissions.The campaign will include scientific publications and workshops in cooperation with our partner ASEM, which recently pointed out widespread shortcomings in measuring emissions during regular roadworthiness tests, by analysing the data from the Ministry of Transport's Technical Inspection Information System.
We are preparing a separate website of the project.
Contact the main researcher of the project: rita.simon@ilaw.cas.cz
