MEASURING TRANSPORT EMISSIONS AND UNDERSTANDING VEHICLE ACTIVITY IN ISTANBUL, TURKEY

Abstract:

Having the largest vehicle population in Turkey with around 2.8 million, and which continues to grow rapidly, Istanbul leads the nation in transport emissions. Istanbul urgently needs to develop an emissions reduction strategy, especially those from public and private mass transit fleets. Transport emissions mitigation will contribute to the reduction of both local and GHG emissions; especially important for Turkey as a nation that is already suffering from the effects of climate change. However, to-date there was very little quantitative data related to transport emissions in Istanbul. One of the first challenges of GHG mitigation in megacities in the developing world is understanding the current situation.EMBARQ Turkey and the Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality developed a “Clean Fuels Clean Vehicles Program.” Within the context of this program, the team developed a workplan to:
1. measure pollutant emissions from motor vehicles arising from vehicles in-use on city streets using real time measurements;
2. define vehicle activity for Istanbul, including defining the composition of the dynamic fleet and traffic patterns;
3. develop and implement pilot projects to test alternatives designed to mitigate urban transport emissions;
4. in light of the learnings from the pilot projects, develop policies and strategies to effectively reduce emissions in Istanbul; and finally
5. carry these learnings to other cities.

This paper will present the findings from the Istanbul emissions inventory and progress on the pilot projects which will be underway at the time of the conference (possibly with completion of one or two of the projects.)