Applying a new synthetic environmental indicator to urban transportation scenario

Through this work will be presented a suitably modified version of a simple model devoted to the evaluation of pollutant matters released in urban contexts by the transportation sector. The method, essentially referring to the pollutant emission factors provided within the European "COPERT III" approach, only requires the knowledge of data concerning the running car fleet on the analysed site. The methodology is here utilised for comparing environmental and energy effects of different transportation policies to be adopted in a given urban area. By imposing modal changes to the transportation demand and, consequently, by re-allocating people from cars to public means, the effects on the released pollutants and on the energy consumption are compared. A simple score method for ranking the alternative choices is moreover presented and the feasibility of the method in representing a viable tool for local administrations is also pointed out.