Urban taxis and air pollution: a case study in Harbin, China

Taxis share a high proportion of urban traffic volume and contribute a large proportion to urban air pollution. This paper addressees this context by exploring urban taxi air pollution emissions and possible reduction countermeasures. Based on a survey of Harbin taxis, we have developed different urban taxi pollution emissions models and considered taxi passenger occupancy and taxi average vacant ratio. To reduce taxi air pollution emission, this paper sets a reduction goal and puts forward three kinds of transport management policies. These are taxi market regulation, introduction of electric and Liquefied Petroleum Gas powered vehicles, and the introduction of dial-a-ride services. The paper provides recommendations for managing urban taxi development using these strategies.

Research highlights
► Estimates the emissions from the taxi transportation mode for a specific city, Harbin, China.
► Uses survey data to establish a taxi air pollution emission model and analyzes alternative emission reduction countermeasures.
► To reduce taxi air pollution emission taxi market regulation, vehicle replacement in favour of LPG and electric technology, and dial-a-ride service can be effective.