Journal of Science Policy & Governance | Volume 18, Issue 01 | March 24, 2021

Policy Analysis: Healthier Streets: How Superblocks and Congestion Pricing Can Help Reduce Air Pollution in Washington, DC​

Bernat Navarro-Serer

Department of Pathology, the Sol Goldman Pancreatic Cancer Research Center, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD

Corresponding author: [email protected]
Download PDF
https://doi.org/10.38126/JSPG180110
Keywords: air pollution; urban policy; superblocks; congestion pricing
Executive Summary: Cities face big challenges, including environmental threats, livability concerns, lack of new infrastructure, and increasing social inequity, among others. These challenges call for new and innovative ways to address them. Air pollution, a common problem in many cities, causes between 100,000 and 340,000 Americans to die prematurely every year (Fann et al. 2012; Caiazzo et al. 2013; Bowe et al. 2019; and Goodkind et al. 2019) and, out of those premature deaths, 53,000 are due to car pollution (Caiazzo et al. 2013). The Washington DC Metro Area is one of the top 20 cities in the United States with the highest smog pollution, highlighting the need for new regulations to reduce air pollution (American Lung Association 2020). Federal policies aimed at lowering the maximum concentration of air pollutants allowed by the EPA could improve public health, but cities can also reduce air pollution levels through policymaking. DC currently has two main transportation and sustainability plans to improve public transportation, infrastructure, and combat climate change. Cities similar to DC, such as Barcelona and London, have applied superblocks, restricted car access city areas, and congestion pricing policies respectively, aimed at reducing air pollution and improving quality of life. Fortunately, DC has many of the characteristics needed to successfully implement superblocks in areas of the city where residential housing and businesses share space, and congestion pricing in highly congested areas. I recommend the District Department of Transportation to establish pilot programs for each of these policies to reduce air pollution levels in the city.

-Read the full article through download.-
Download PDF

References

  1. Börjesson, Maria, Jonas Eliasson, Muriel B. Hugosson, and Karin Brundell-Freij. "The Stockholm congestion charges-5 years on. Effects, acceptability and lessons learnt." Transport Policy 20 (2012): 1-12. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2011.11.001
  2. Bowe, Benjamin, Yan Xie, Yan Yan, and Ziyad Al-Aly. "Burden of cause-specific mortality associated with PM2. 5 air pollution in the United States." JAMA network open 2, no. 11 (2019): e1915834-e1915834.​ https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.15834
  3. Caiazzo, Fabio, Akshay Ashok, Ian A. Waitz, Steve HL Yim, and Steven RH Barrett. "Air pollution and early deaths in the United States. Part I: Quantifying the impact of major sectors in 2005." Atmospheric Environment 79 (2013): 198-208. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.05.081
  4. District Department of Transportation. “Draft Policy List.” moveDC, October 2, 2020. https://movedc-dcgis.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/f3e0233a741a4ef6aa64194fe8342886
  5. District Department of Transportation. “The District of Columbia’s Multimodal Long-Range Transportation Plan.” moveDC, October 2014. https://movedc-dcgis.hub.arcgis.com/datasets/185fc8aebe694ab4ac24068cf5212c30
  6. Department of Energy and Environment. “Sustainable DC 2.0 Plan Online.” Sustainable DC, April 23, 2019. https://sustainable.dc.gov/sdc2.
  7. Department of Motor Vehicles. Vehicle Registration Historical Data. Department of Motor Vehicles, 2019. https://dmv.dc.gov/page/vehicle-registration-historical-data.
  8. Fann, Neal, Amy D. Lamson, Susan C. Anenberg, Karen Wesson, David Risley, and Bryan J. Hubbell. "Estimating the national public health burden associated with exposure to ambient PM2. 5 and ozone." Risk Analysis: An International Journal 32, no. 1 (2012): 81-95. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6924.2011.01630.x
  9. Goodkind, Andrew L., Christopher W. Tessum, Jay S. Coggins, Jason D. Hill, and Julian D. Marshall. "Fine-scale damage estimates of particulate matter air pollution reveal opportunities for location-specific mitigation of emissions." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 116, no. 18 (2019): 8775-8780. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1816102116
  10. Guskin, Emily, and Luz Lazo. “Poll: Washington-Area Residents Widely Oppose Paying a Toll to Drive into Downtown D.C.” The Washington Post. WP Company, May 17, 2019. https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/trafficandcommuting/poll-washington-area-residents-widely-oppose-paying-a-toll-to-drive-into-downtown-dc/2019/05/16/24db6dba-7284-11e9-9eb4-0828f5389013_story.html
  11. Hensher, David A., and Zheng Li. "Referendum voting in road pricing reform: A review of the evidence." Transport Policy 25 (2013): 186-197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tranpol.2012.11.012
  12. INRIX. “Congestion Costs Each American Nearly 100 Hours, $1,400 A Year.” Inrix, March 9, 2020. https://inrix.com/press-releases/2019-traffic-scorecard-us/
  13. Key Findings: State of the Air.” American Lung Association, 2020. http://www.stateoftheair.org/key-findings/
  14. Lamb, Eleanor. “District of Columbia Council Proposes Congestion Pricing Study.” Transport Topics, May 13, 2019. https://www.ttnews.com/articles/district-columbia-council-proposes-congestion-pricing-study
  15. Mehdipanah, Roshanak, Ana M. Novoa, Brenda Biaani León-Gómez, Maria José López, Laia Palència, Hugo Vasquez, Èlia Díez, Carme Borrell, and Katherine Pérez. "Effects of Superblocks on health and health inequities: a proposed evaluation framework." J Epidemiol Community Health 73, no. 7 (2019): 585-588. Harvard. https://doi.org/10.1136/jech-2018-211738
  16. Mueller, Natalie, David Rojas-Rueda, Haneen Khreis, Marta Cirach, David Andrés, Joan Ballester, Xavier Bartoll et al. "Changing the urban design of cities for health: The superblock model." Environment international 134 (2020): 105132. Harvard. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2019.105132
  17. Roberts, David. “Barcelona Is Pushing out Cars and Putting in Superblocks. Here Are the 2 Biggest Challenges Ahead.” Vox. Vox, April 10, 2019. https://www.vox.com/energy-and-environment/2019/4/10/18273895/traffic-barcelona-superblocks-gentrification.
  18. Ryan, Kate. “Bike Boom Continues as DC Area Moves toward Reopening.” WTOP, June 11, 2020. https://wtop.com/lifestyle/2020/06/bike-boom-continues-as-areas-move-towards-reopening/.
  19. Pascale, Jordan. “DC Bike Sales Are On The Rise During The Pandemic.” WAMU. WAMU 88.5 - American University Radio, August 20, 2020. https://wamu.org/story/20/08/20/dc-bike-boom-sales-increase-covid19-pandemic/.
  20. Santos, Georgina. "11. Urban Road Pricing In The UK'." Research in Transportation Economics 9, no. 1 (2004): 251-282.
  21. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0739-8859(04)09011-0
  22. Selmoune, Aya, Qixiu Cheng, Lumeng Wang, and Zhiyuan Liu. "Influencing Factors in Congestion Pricing Acceptability: A Literature Review." Journal of Advanced Transportation. Hindawi, January 13, 2020. https://www.hindawi.com/journals/jat/2020/4242964/ https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/4242964
  23. Short, John Rennie. “Should U.S. Cities Use Congestion Pricing To Ease Traffic?” Smithsonian.com. Smithsonian Institution, February 8, 2018. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/should-us-cities-use-congestion-pricing-to-ease-traffic-180968107/
  24. “Washington-Baltimore-Arlington Metro Area Continues to Rank Among Worst 25 in Nation for Ozone Smog, But Improved or Matched Best for All Three Measures Tracked, Finds 2020 ‘State of the Air’ Report.” Press Releases | American Lung Association, n.d. https://www.lung.org/media/press-releases/state-of-the-air-dc.
  25. Wray, Sarah. “Barcelona's Superblocks Get a Boost with EU Bank Finance.” Cities Today - Connecting the world's urban leaders, August 5, 2020. https://cities-today.com/barcelonas-superblocks-get-a-boost-with-eu-bank-finance/.  
Bernat Navarro-Serer is a fourth-year Ph.D. Candidate studying pancreatic cancer at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He studies mechanisms of invasion in pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma using 3D organoid models from human derived tumors. He is the Vice President at the Johns Hopkins Science Policy Group and the former Eastern Hub Co-Chair at the National Science Policy Network.
 
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank the SciPol Scholars Program at the National Science Policy Network for the support in helping me pitch and develop this policy memo.
DISCLAIMER: The findings and conclusions published herein are solely attributed to the author and not necessarily endorsed or adopted by the Journal of Science Policy and Governance. Articles are distributed in compliance with copyright and trademark agreements.

ISSN 2372-2193
© 2022 Journal of Science Policy & Governance, Inc. All rights reserved. The opinions, findings and conclusions from JSPG publications, additional article commentaries and related events do not necessarily reflect the views of the journal.