Spatial Effects of Urban Transport on Air Pollution in Metropolitan Municipalities of Mexico

The objective of this work was to estimate the local effects and spatial spillover effects of the number of vehicles, use of urban public transport, and population density on nitrogen oxide emissions for 405 metropolitan municipalities in Mexico in 2016. To this end, a Spatial Durbin Model was estimated. We found positive direct effects of the number of vehicles and population density and negative direct effects of the use of urban public transport. The number of vehicles in circulation had negative spillover effects on the nitrogen oxide emissions of neighboring municipalities. These results indicate that the design of public policy programs aimed at reducing air pollution in Mexico should be based on coordination across metropolitan municipalities.

Automated summary

This study aimed to estimate the effects of the number of vehicles, use of urban public transport, and population density on nitrogen oxide emissions in 405 metropolitan municipalities in Mexico. The results showed that the number of vehicles and population density had positive direct effects, while the use of urban public transport had a negative direct effect on nitrogen oxide emissions. Additionally, the number of vehicles in circulation had negative spillover effects on neighboring municipalities' nitrogen oxide emissions.