Contrasting Summertime Trends in Vehicle Combustion Efficiency in Los Angeles, CA and Salt Lake City, UT

Abstract

Policy interventions and technological advances are mitigating emissions of air pollutants from motor vehicles. As a result, vehicle fleets are expected to progressively combust fuel more efficiently, with a declining ratio of carbon monoxide to carbon dioxide (CO/CO₂) in their emissions. We assess trends in traffic combustion efficiency in Los Angeles (LA) and Salt Lake City (SLC) by measuring changes in summertime on-road CO/CO₂ between 2013 and 2021 using mobile observations. Our data show a reduction in CO/CO₂ in LA, indicating an improvement in combustion efficiency that likely resulted from stringent regulation of CO emissions. In contrast, we observed an increase in CO/CO₂ values in SLC. While slower progress in SLC compared to LA may be partially due to a later adoption of vehicle emission regulations in Utah compared to California, differing driving conditions and fleet composition may also be playing a role. This is evidenced by increased CO/CO₂ in LA during the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to faster driving speeds and changes to the fleet composition. Our results demonstrate the success of California’s CO-reducing policy interventions and illustrate the impacts of traffic characteristics on vehicle combustion efficiency and air pollutant emissions.