Effects of Raising Speed Limits on Motor Vehicle Emissions.

摘要

In 1974 the Federal government introduced a national speed limit of 55 miles per hour (mph) in response to the Arab oil embargo and subsequent energy crisis. This limit was raised to 65 mph for rural interstate freeways in 1987. In November of 1995, as part of the National Highway System Bill (H.R. 2274, 1995), these limitations were eliminated and control of maximum highway speeds was relinquished to the States. This analysis investigates the impact on air quality that is expected to occur as a result of the elimination of Federal speed limits. This was done by determining where speed limits have changed in the past year (by State and roadway type) and modeling expected resulting speed changes using the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA's) MOBILE5 a highway vehicle emission factor model.