Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Environmental and Resource Economics

Volume

85

Publisher

Springer Dordrecht

Publication Date

4-17-2023

First Page

479

Last Page

522

Abstract

Using a dataset consisting of daily vehicle trips, PM2.5 concentrations, and a host of climactic control variables, we test the hypothesis that “yellow air day advisories” issued by the Utah Division of Air Quality resulted in subsequent reductions in vehicle trips taken during northern Utah’s winter-inversion seasons in the early 2000 s. Winter inversions occur in northern Utah when PM2.5 concentrations (derived mainly from vehicle emissions) become trapped in the lower atmosphere, leading to unhealthy air quality over a span of time known colloquially as “red air day episodes”. When concentrations rise above 15 μg/m3 toward the National Ambient Air Quality Standard average daily threshold of 35 μg/m3, residents are informed via different media sources and road signage that the region is experiencing a yellow air day, and are urged to reduce their vehicle usage during the day. Our results suggest that the advisories have provided at best weak, at worst perverse, incentives for reducing vehicle usage on yellow air days and ultimately for mitigating the occurrence of red air day episodes during northern Utah’s winter inversion seasons.

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