Air pollution generated by road traffic in the city of Zagreb and measures proposed

Abstract

The objective of this paper is to analyze the impact of road traffic on air pollution in the city of Zagreb and emphasise the measures to establish sustainable traffic in the city of Zagreb. Due to the large number of vehicles, high percentage of defective vehicles and relatively low speeds (below 80 km/h), the highest effect on air pollution in the city of Zagreb is generated by road vehicles. If air pollution in the city is analyzed from 2001 to 2009 it may be concluded that the biggest problem lies in the pollution by nitrogen oxides, airborne particles and ground-level, which means that taking these pollution parameters into consideration the air was of category II, i.e. moderately polluted. The most endangered city areas are the industrial zones and traffic nodes. Some of the suggestions for decreasing the emission of harmful components in exhaust gasses emissions in Zagreb are: reconstruction of road network (emphasis on intersection), introduction of traffic oriented control, usage of intelligent transport systems for guiding organization of traffic, “park and ride” system, fuel quality improvement etc. In the city of Zagreb there’s a lot of room for improvements in technical, technological and ecological sense. This paper in conclusion offers optimal proposals of measures to establish better air quality and sustainable traffic in the city of Zagreb.