The influence of street environments on fuel efficiency: insights from naturalistic driving

Abstract

Fuel consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector are a result of a ''threelegged stool'': fuel types, vehicle fuel efficiency, and vehicle miles travelled (VMT). While there is a substantial body of literature that examines the connection between the built environment and total VMT, few studies have focused on the impacts of the street environment on fuel consumption rate. Our research applied structural equation modeling to examine how driving behaviors and fuel efficiency respond to different street environments. We used a rich naturalistic driving dataset that recorded detailed driving patterns of 108 drivers randomly selected from the Southeast Michigan region. The results show that, some features of compact streets such as lower speed limit, higher intersection density, and higher employment density are associated with lower driving speed, more speed changes, and lower fuel efficiency; however, other features such as higher population density and higher density of pedestrian-scale retails improve fuel efficiency. The aim of our study is to gain further understanding of energy and environmental outcomes of the urban areas and the roadway infrastructure we plan, design, and build and to better inform policy decisions concerned with sustainable transportation.

Impact of Population Density on PM2.5 Concentrations: A Case Study in Shanghai, China

“…The gender ratio is more easily measured. We included this measure because previous studies have suggested that males prefer to drive [72], so the gender ratio (male/female) can reflect the influence of social factors on PM 2.5 concentrations through travel type. Data was sourced from the Sixth Census Data of Shanghai Jiedao in 2010 (http://www.stats.gov.cn/tjsj/tjgb/rkpcgb/dfrkpcgb/ 201202/t20120228_30403.html).…”

Exploring the Association between Urban Form and Air Quality in China

“…However, even low vehicle emissions may yield high concentrations in particular areas because emissions may disperse and react to the influence of other factors (Civerolo et al 2007; Hang et al 2009; Buccolieri, Sandberg, and Di Sabatino 2010; Schweitzer and Zhou 2010). Additionally, a recent study shows that compact urban form may be associated with lower driving speeds, more speed changes, lower fuel efficiencies, and higher emission rates in spite of lower vehicle miles traveled (X. Wang et al 2014).…”

Impacts of Built-Environment on Carbon Dioxide Emissions from Traffic: A Systematic Literature Review

“…Most reports conclude that there is a negative correlation between employment density and TCE [ 44 , 86 , 87 ]. Wang et al found that an increase in employment density helps to reduce the average speed of vehicles, increase fuel efficiency, and reduce transportation energy consumption [ 105 ]. Nevertheless, some reports have raised questions about this opinion [ 90 , 106 ].…”