Future reductions of China's transport emissions impacted by changing driving behaviour

This paper examines what individual drivers can contribute to reduce global vehicle emissions in their daily driving. Here we analyse vehicle emissions from the behavioural perspective with the aim of identifying ways in which drivers can reduce emissions by modifying their driving behaviour. We propose an indicator, the Standardized Driver Aggressiveness Index, to estimate the changes in private vehicle driving behaviour and perform estimates based on the real-world vehicular trajectory data collected from 2013 to 2021 in China. We then develop a forward-looking integrated assessment model to predict the extra vehicle emissions that would be induced by various types of car-following behaviour, for example, calm, neutral and aggressive behaviour. Our results indicate that by 2050, the cumulative emissions linked to driving behaviour that could be prevented will amount to 400.5 million tons of CO2. Our findings highlight the importance of considering behavioural changes as part of the solution to mitigate transport emissions, and underline the urgent need for interventions that can lead drivers to adopting more sustainable driving behaviour. While the type of vehicles matters a great deal for the quantity of emissions being generated, driver behaviour is also a major factor. This paper uses driving trajectory data to project how much carbon in the atmosphere could be prevented through calm driving through 2050.

Automated summary

This paper examines how individual drivers can contribute to reducing global vehicle emissions by modifying their driving behavior. The study proposes a Standardized Driver Aggressiveness Index to estimate changes in driving behavior based on real-world trajectory data. The research predicts the additional vehicle emissions induced by different types of car-following behavior and finds that cumulative emissions that could be prevented by 2050 amount to 400.5 million tons of CO2. The findings emphasize the importance of considering behavioral changes in mitigating transport emissions and the need for interventions to encourage sustainable driving behavior.