Have traffic restrictions improved air quality? A shock from COVID-19

With the outbreak of COVID-19 (Corona Virus Disease, 2019), China adopted traffic restrictions to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Using daily data before and after the outbreak of COVID-19, an exogenous shock, this paper analyzes the effects of private vehicle restriction policies on air pollution. We find that the private vehicle restriction policies reduce the degree of air pollution to a certain extent. However, their effect varies with other policies implemented in the same period and the economic development of the city itself. Through the analysis of different categories of restrictions, we find that restriction policy for local fuel vehicles and the restriction policy based on the last digit of license plate numbers have the best effect in reducing air pollution. Under the background of COVID-19 epidemic and the implementation of private vehicle restriction policies and other traffic control policies during this period, we have also obtained other enlightenment on air pollution control. (c) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The study found that private vehicle restriction policies have a certain effect on reducing air pollution, but their effectiveness is influenced by other policies and the economic development of the city. Policies targeting local fuel vehicles and based on the last digit of license plate numbers have the best effect in reducing air pollution.