Effect of Traffic and Vehicular Attributes on On-Road Particulate Exposure

Abstract

Particulate pollution is a severe environmental threat to human health. In addition, commuters are exposed to higher particulate matter (PM) concentrations due to additional exhaust emissions and soil dust resuspensions from on-road vehicles. The spatiotemporal exposure concentration can be predicted using various factors such as meteorological parameters, traffic parameters, vehicles’ physical attributes, and road characteristics. Apart from estimating the PM exposure using meteorological parameters, no such association was established between on-road PM levels and the rest of the factors. Thus, a PM exposure study was carried out along one designated route in Varanasi, India, from January to March 2022. The study aimed to model the effect of traffic parameters and vehicles’ physical attributes on on-road particulate exposure concentration. No significant correlation was observed between traffic fundamental parameters and on-road PM concentration. However, the exposure concentration was found to decrease with an increase in traveling speed. The vehicular attributes such as weight, volume, and area were found to have a moderate correlation with the fine (PM2.5) exposure concentration for maximum road segments. Thus, the study can predict the segment-wise on-road PM2.5 exposure concentration with vehicular attributes information. © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2025.