“The odd-even pilot reduced hourly particulate air pollution concentrations by 10-13 per cent. But for the longer run, a congestion-pricing programme may be better.
Researchers and scientists Michael Greenstone, Santosh Harish, and Anant Sudarshan of the Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago, and Rohini Pande of the Evidence for Policy Design group at Harvard University Delhi’s write about their analysis of the air pollution concentrations during the odd-even period…
“Delhi’s ambitious odd-even pilot experiment to reduce the number of cars on the road, and pollution in the air, has come to an end — at least for now. But the question remains: Was it successful?
“Answering this question is challenging. Air pollution data is limited and it comes from many different sources. Pollution also varies with time and weather conditions for reasons that have nothing to do with the odd-even pilot. Thus, simply looking at trends in pollution monitors cannot tell us what we need to know. Reflecting these challenges, different assessments so far have been contradictory, ranging from “complete failure” to “massive success”. In a rigorous new study, however, we conclude that the odd-even pilot did have some impact — reducing hourly particulate air pollution concentrations by 10-13 per cent.” The Indian Express. Read about how they “statistically quantified the level of impact” and what they suggest the government do going forward in delhiair.org.
delhiair.org - be informed and active about air quality in New Delhi, India 