The Impacts of COVID-19 Lockdowns on Road Transport Air Pollution in London: A State-Space Modelling Approach

Hajar Hajmohammadi and Hamid Salehi ()
Additional contact information
Hajar Hajmohammadi: Centre for Primary Care, Wolfson Institute of Population Health, Queen Mary University of London, London E1 4NS, UK
Hamid Salehi: School of Engineering, University of Greenwich, Chatham ME4 4TB, UK

IJERPH, 2024, vol. 21, issue 9, 1-12

Abstract: The emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 led to the implementation of legal restrictions on individual activities, significantly impacting traffic and air pollution levels in urban areas. This study employs a state-space intervention method to investigate the effects of three major COVID-19 lockdowns in March 2020, November 2020, and January 2021 on London’s air quality. Data were collected from 20 monitoring stations across London (central, ultra-low emission zone, and greater London), with daily measurements of NO x , PM 10 , and PM 2.5 for four years (January 2019–December 2022). Furthermore, the developed model was adjusted for seasonal effects, ambient temperature, and relative humidity. This study found significant reductions in the NO x levels during the first lockdown: 49% in central London, 33% in the ultra-low emission zone (ULEZ), and 37% in greater London. Although reductions in NO x were also observed during the second and third lockdowns, they were less than the first lockdown. In contrast, PM 10 and PM 2.5 increased by 12% and 1%, respectively, during the first lockdown, possibly due to higher residential energy consumption. However, during the second lockdown, PM 10 and PM 2.5 levels decreased by 11% and 13%, respectively, and remained unchanged during the third lockdown. These findings highlight the complex dynamics of urban air quality and underscore the need for targeted interventions to address specific pollution sources, particularly those related to road transport. The study provides valuable insights into the effectiveness of lockdown measures and informs future air quality management strategies.

Keywords: COVID-19 lockdowns; air pollution; state-space modelling; fine particles (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/9/1153/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/21/9/1153/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:21:y:2024:i:9:p:1153-:d:1467763

Access Statistics for this article

IJERPH is currently edited by Ms. Jenna Liu

More articles in IJERPH from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().