Evaluation of the Impact of Low-Emission Zone: Madrid Central as a Case Study

TL;DR

This study evaluates the impact of Madrid Central, a Low-Emission Zone, on nitrogen dioxide levels using novel metrics and data analysis from 2010 to 2019, assessing environmental and traffic effects.

Contribution

The paper introduces two pollutant-independent metrics to evaluate LEZ impact and provides a detailed case study of Madrid Central's first year.

Findings

Madrid Central contributed to NO2 reduction in 2019

Traffic around Madrid Central increased, potentially affecting pollution levels

New evaluation methodologies proved effective for LEZ impact assessment

Abstract

Air-quality in urban areas and its relation with public health is one of the most critical concerns for governments. For this reason, they implement actions aimed at reducing the concentration of the most critical atmospheric pollutants, among others the implementation of Low-Emission Zones. Madrid Central is a major initiative of Madrid city council for reducing motor traffic and the associated air pollution at the city center. It is created by enlarging a previous and smaller area of restricted motor traffic. This initiative starts at the end of 2018, but the first fully-operational period corresponds to 2019Q2 (second quarter of 2019). The activation of Low-Emission Zones has social and economic impacts, besides environmental ones. For this reason, their impact must be assessed to ensure the achievement of the commitments in the reduction of atmospheric pollutants levels. In this work, two metrics for evaluating the impact of Madrid Central in the reduction of nitrogen dioxide concentration are proposed. Mean daily concentrations of NO2 from 2010 to 2019 corresponding to the Plaza del Carmen monitoring station are employed for the evaluation of the impact of Madrid Central. Two other monitoring stations around Madrid Central are analysed for ascertaining the rise of detrimental effects due to an increment of the motor traffic around the traffic restricted area. In consequence, two methodologies pollutant-independent for evaluating the impact and the evolution of LEZs, as well as a statement about the impact of the first year of Madrid Central are presented.