Computers, Environment and Urban Systems

26 (2002) 577–590
www.elsevier.com/locate/compenvurbsys

A GIS-based environmental modelling system

for transportation planners
A.L. Brown*, J.K. Affum
School of Environmental Planning, Griffith University, Nathan, Qld, 4111, Australia

Abstract
This paper describes a GIS-based environmental modelling system, termed TRAEMS, for
use by transport planners in assessing the environmental effects of road traffic plans. The
system utilises capabilities of GIS to integrate the output from a transport planning activity
with land use information to model the environmental impacts of different road traffic sce-
narios. TRAEMS enables planners to test transport related environmental impacts at the
same time as they are testing the traffic carrying efficiencies of network plans. The suitability
of this type of environmental modelling for planning purposes is illustrated using a case study.
# 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: GIS; Environmental impacts; Road transport; Transportation planners

1. Introduction

Road transport investments over the years have contributed a great deal to
shaping urban growth and the forms of settlement. Their importance to economic
development of cities and regions, combined with issues of environment, conges-
tion and safety, have seen the planning and management of transportation systems
high on government agendas worldwide. The adverse environmental effects of
road transport include air pollution, pollution of natural drainage systems, noise
disturbance and extensive energy consumption. It appears likely that environ-
mental conditions will worsen in most urban areas in the immediate future,

* Corrersponding author.
E-mail addresses: lex.brown@mailbox.gu.edu.au (A.L. Brown), j.affum@mailbox.gu.edu.au
(J.K. Affum).

0198-9715/02/$ - see front matter # 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
PII: S0198-9715(01)00016-3
578 A.L. Brown, J.K. Affum / Comput., Environ. and Urban Systems 26 (2002) 577–590

with increases in both the number of motor vehicles and the mean distance tra-
velled by each vehicle. There are considerable advantages in incorporating envi-
ronmental modelling directly into the transport planning processes to enable the
assessment of the environmental effects of different transport proposals and sce-
narios simultaneously with the assessment of their traffic effects. However, the
dominant practice for addressing environmental issues in road transport planning
has tended to focus on the use of environmental impact assessment (EIA) of spe-
cific roadway projects, or perhaps alternative alignments of roadway projects—say
for a new city freeway link (Brewer & Ross, 1996). Environmental impact assess-
ment procedures tend to be carried out late in the planning process at which time
major modifications to the proposal, particularly those that would need to be
considered at the network level, are unlikely to remain as options (Losee & Brown
1996). This paper focuses on environmental evaluation at the network level of
transport planning.
There is growing interest in considering the environmental effects of road trans-
port at the network level (Losee & Brown, 1996). A range of systems for modelling
environmental impacts of transport are in use or under development [for example,
ESTEEM (Hall, Titherridge, & Banister, 1999), SPARTACUS, (Lautso, Mar-
tino, & Toivanen, 1998), IMPEACT (Taylor, Wooley, Young, & Clement, 1994),
PROPOLIS (2001) and ADMS-Urban (Owen, Edmunds, & Carruthers, 1999)].
Many of these models have a transport (and often land use allocation) model
integrated with the environmental modelling, and some have an additional sub-
model for decision support with respect to sustainability dimensions of transport or
land use options under evaluation. The system described in this paper differs from
many of the above on two principles. The first is that integration of environmental
and transport modelling, as a single system, may not always be an advantage. That
is in some applications, the essential transport data that is required to drive the
environmental modelling should not be generated internally within the model, but
through strategic coupling with output from a separate transport model, or obtained
from any counted or estimated traffic data sets. The second principle is that the
modelling focuses on being able to present its outputs as comparisons as this fits
with the likely uses for the model in decision making.
This modelling system, known as TRAEMS (TRansport planning Add-on Envi-
ronmental Modelling System) was developed using MapInfo GIS and is intended for
use by transport planners as an add-on module to existing transport planning mod-
els. The development of the system relies on the capabilities of GIS and uses, as its
prime input, the output data from transport models or other traffic data, overlaid
with land use information in the immediate vicinity of the modelled road traffic
network. The system is designed to provide rapid information to the transport
planner on the environmental effects of any transport proposal being considered and
thereby aids in the selection of a preferred transport scenario based on environ-
mental, not just traffic related outcomes.
The paper concludes with results from a case study to demonstrate the usefulness
of this form of modelling in testing the environmental implications of transport
planning scenarios.
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2. Predicting transport impacts during transport planning

The central focus of transport planning processes has been predicting and model-
ling traffic flows in a transport network based on an understanding of the complex
nature of land use and transportation systems. For this, computerised models,
usually termed travel demand models (TDM), have been developed and applied
extensively in practice. TDM aims to provide information for the design of trans-
port networks that allow optimum and efficient movements of traffic and are applied
to current and future road network scenarios to assess their performance in terms of
traffic flow efficiencies (usually as volume/capacity ratios). Over several decades,
much travel demand modelling did not consider the environmental impacts of the
chosen scenarios at the time the transport networks were being modelled and eval-
uated.
It has been demonstrated that much of the data required for modelling the envi-
ronmental impacts of traffic are already produced as output from the TDM (Brown
& Patterson 1990; Taylor & Anderson, 1988). The commonality in much of the data
required (or produced) in TDM and in environmental modelling of roadways means
evaluating environmental impact of a road network can be explicitly added to the
transport planning process. This requires the provision of additional land use data
layers (such as building locational setbacks, water catchment details, and zonal data)
and the integration of the data across the environmental sub-models.

3. Design concepts and structure of TRAEMS

TRAEMS is designed for easy use by transport planners as a practical tool. For
TRAEMS to serve its intended purpose (i.e. as an add-on system), and capable of
use by a wide range of users, the system has been designed to accept data almost
seamlessly from the current range of transport models in use. Much effort has
therefore been expended to ensure that TRAEMS can utilise virtually any TDM
output through the design of a flexible user-interface. Effectively it can be seen as
augmentation to TDM models already being used—hence the important inclusion
of the term ‘‘Add-on’’ in its acronym.

3.1. User interface

Models tend not to be used if they interfere too much with the way people (in this
case transport planners) work. There are three main methods available for integrat-
ing GIS and models: embedding GIS functionalities entirely within the model (the
model dominant approach); implementing the models within the GIS (the GIS
dominant approach); and the interface approach. Details of these approaches are
outlines in Affum and Taylor (1998), Lewis (1990) and Trinidad and Marquez
(1994). Of these methods, the interface approach to the integration of GIS and
models, tends to provide the least interference and has been adopted for TRAEMS.
Under this approach, the component environmental prediction sub-models were
580 A.L. Brown, J.K. Affum / Comput., Environ. and Urban Systems 26 (2002) 577–590

developed as routines that behave like modules resident within the GIS and operate
via a user interface. Each sub-model’s module maintains its operational character-
istics, but does depend on the GIS for data input, output and display and spatial
analysis capabilities. The user interface and the analysis routines were developed
using MapBasic—the MapInfo programming language. The entire process runs
transparently to the user via the user interface.

3.2. Components of TRAEMS

TRAEMS operates entirely within the MapInfo environment, as an additional

item in the MapInfo main menu, in the form of pull down menu. It is user-friendly,
simple to use and requires no prior knowledge of MapInfo. All input data and out-
put are maintained in MapInfo format, keeping everything simple and uniform. The
various components are designed as individual programs in modular form, linked
together through a common controller. Separate sub-modules have been designed
for each of the environmental factors of interest, namely: traffic noise, air pollution,
energy consumption and stormwater pollution. The overall structure is shown in
Fig. 1. It contains four main modules, namely Data Manager, Models, Scenario and
Output. Each of these contains a group of functions and tools used to perform spe-
cific tasks as illustrated by the various sub-modules. Below is a brief description of
the four main modules.

3.3. Data manager module

This module serves as a data capture and input facility system. It has three sub-
modules namely ‘‘network’’, ‘‘raster image capture’’, and ‘‘workspace’’, which
enables the system to create, organise and manage the input data files into a single
unified data sharing facility for use by all the separate environmental models.

Fig. 1. Main components of TRAEMS.

 A.L. Brown, J.K. Affum / Comput., Environ. and Urban Systems 26 (2002) 577–590 581

The network sub-module is used to generate a detailed road network layout, as a

MapInfo map layer from the TDM output data. The raster capture sub-module is
used to capture spatial information on land uses abutting the road network based on
aerial photographs (or raster images) of the area. By clicking on the front outline of
the building of interest as seen on the aerial photograph (say, a building close to a
road link), the system automatically captures the building’s locational coordinates,
its associated road link identification number, and then computes its setback from
the roadway. The workspace sub-module is used to create and organise the various
analysis files and tables into a unified data set and also help keep track of all the
various processes and outputs during any modelling session.

3.4. Models module

This module presents options for estimating and evaluating the environmental
effects of traffic noise, air pollution, energy consumption, and stormwater run-off
due to road traffic. Separate sub-modules are developed for carrying out each of the
above activities based on existing simple, reliable and proven prediction models.
They make use of the same underlying data that is controlled and managed centrally
using the data manager module. In computing the environmental effects, the pre-
diction models first predicts the pollution emissions from the operations of the traffic
on each link, then estimates pollution exposure of, or immissions to, adjacent land
uses. Most environmental pollutants from roadways become a problem only if some
land use is sensitive to that pollutant, hence modelling immissions provides an
unambiguous measure of environmental impact of the pollutant whereas modelling
emissions does not. For example, for traffic noise, it is more useful to know the
number of noise sensitive structures near the road network that exceeds specified
noise criteria and the noise levels at these locations, rather than the length of road-
way emitting different levels of noise. This emphasis on impact, together with the use
of GIS and the operation of the system within a GIS, differentiates the approach
adopted here from other environmental modelling tools for road network such as
the ESCORT software (Simonsson, 1993) and the CAR model (Eerens, Sliggers, &
Van den Hout, 1993), Netnoise (Woolley, 1994), and ADMS-Urban (Owen et al.,
1999). Though Netnoise and ADMS-Urban transport network systems can be
linked onto GIS, these models use the GIS only as a front end for data input and
display of output results.

3.4.1. Traffic noise sub-module

The traffic noise sub-module is used to estimate link-based road traffic noise
emissions and immissions. The noise prediction procedure used is based on the
Calculation of Road Traffic Noise (CoRTN) procedures (UK DoT, 1988) as shown
in the following equations.
L10 ð18 hourÞ ¼ 29:1 þ log10 Q þ Csh þ Cg þ Crs þ Cd þ Cc þ Cs þ Ca þ Cr

L10 ð1 hourÞ ¼ 42:2 þ log10 q þ Csh þ Cg þ Crs þ Cd þ Cc þ Cs þ Ca þ Cr

582 A.L. Brown, J.K. Affum / Comput., Environ. and Urban Systems 26 (2002) 577–590

where Q is traffic volume over an 18 h period (06:00–00:00); q is traffic volume in a 1

h period; Csh is the correction for speed and heavy vehicles; Cg is the correction for
gradient; Crs is the correction for road surface; Cd is the correction for distance
attenuation; Cc is the correction for ground cover; Ca is the correction for angle of
view; Cs is the correction for shielding form obstructions such as barriers; Cr is the
correction for reflection from structures opposite the road from the receiver.
The implemented version enables the prediction of the L10, 18h or L10, 1h dB(A)
noise scales. The correction factors and model parameters can be specified and
applied for each individual road link, or applied globally over the entire road net-
work in which case, a single value is specified. The TRAEMS version does not con-
sider shielding and opposite-side reflection corrections because in most urban
situations, they would be applicable only on a very small proportion of the road
network links (e.g. mostly non-access roadways such as freeways). While all of the
above corrections can be exactly specified in any modelling context, our experience
is that, for the purposes of much network modelling, and particularly for scenario
comparisons), globally specified parameters (such as for angle of view) are adequate,
and significantly reduce the data requirements.
The outputs from the noise module include noise emission and noise immission
thematic maps and a graphical distribution of noise exposures of all dwellings near
the road network (effectively, a State of Environment report for noise from the road
system of the area under study). The emission map depicts the noise levels along
each link computed at a distance of 10 m from the edge of the nearside roadway,
and is able to show transport corridors that generate high noise emissions, and this
may be helpful in the planning of the land uses adjacent to the roads by providing
prior information on the noise levels. The immission maps depict the noise levels
computed 1 m in front of the facade of all noise sensitive buildings along the road-
way. Here the network links are shaded according to the maximum noise immission
at the facade of any dwelling located along the link, with the number of dwellings
along the link exceeding pre-defined criteria shown. Combined, these maps and
graphs provide full quantitative information on the extent and intensity of the
exposure in the network under study, in terms of the number of buildings experien-
cing unacceptable noise levels, and the specific locations of the problems (Affum &
Brown, 1998).

3.4.2. Air pollution sub-module

The air pollution sub-module uses prediction models to estimate the main pollut-
ants from road networks. In TRAEMS, each road segment (link) is considered as an
independent line source of pollution with constant traffic variables. The link-based
output from the TDM (speeds, traffic volume, etc.) is supplemented by speed-
based vehicle air emission factors and vehicle fleet composition in estimating the
emission levels. The total emission level on each road link from all vehicles, E, is
given by:
Xn
E¼ Ni Pi :fðsÞi
i¼1
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Pi=city-wide emission factor in g/km unique for each pollutant and vehicle type/
fuel i; f(s)i=speed related emission factor correction function for each pollutant
and vehicle type/fuel i (see Fehon, Moore, & Negus, 1986; Luk, 1989 for details
of these functions); Ni=total volume of vehicle type/fuel i; and n=total number of
vehicle types into which the vehicle fleet is classified
The components of the air pollution module implemented include:

1. Prediction of the quantity of CO, HC and NOx emissions (in grams per kilo-
metre of roadway) emitted by the traffic on each link.
2. Division of the study area into grid cells of size specified by the user, and the
computation of the total emission levels in each grid cell for each pollutant.
The total emission in a grid cell is computed as the sum of the emissions from
the individual links within each cell. If road links crossed grid cells, to allow for
correct apportioning of the emission levels, these links are split into sub-links
during the computation process so that each sub link lies within a grid cell.
3. Estimation of the near-field effects of the computed link-based emissions.
TRAEMS uses the Gaussian based CHOCK dispersion model for predicting
air pollution concentration levels near roadways (Chock, 1978) to estimate the
pollutant concentration levels to the first row of sensitive land uses and dwell-
ings along each link. TRAEMS assumes that chemical reactions involving the
pollutants are negligible.
4. Area-wide dispersion of the grid-based emission levels to determine the final
concentration levels over the entire area. TRAEMS uses the ATDL dispersion
model (Hanna, 1972) to compute the concentration levels of each pollutant.
5. Comparison of grid-based emission loadings and the near-field and area-wide
concentration levels between different transport planning scenarios.

The computation of the near-field and area-wide concentration levels of pollutants

take into consideration the meteorological conditions of the area. The outputs from
this module are a series of maps showing the various pollutant levels emitted per
unit length on each link, the total emission levels for each pollutant in each grid cell,
and the near-field and area-wide concentration levels. From the concentration levels,
TRAEMS has the potential to assess air pollution immissions over the whole area
serviced by the road network including, estimating the proportion of the community
experiencing critical air pollution levels from any particular transport scenario.
Because of its modular construction, there is little difficulty in replacing the dis-
persion models implemented in TRAEMS with alternative models, according to user
requirements.

3.4.3. Energy Consumption sub-module

The Energy Consumption sub-module uses either the running speed or the aver-
age speed model for estimating fuel consumed. These two methods belongs to
the family of models of fuel consumption for vehicles in a traffic stream comprised
of many different types of vehicles as has been proposed by Bowyer, Akcelik,
and Biggs (1985). The running speed model is used for application at the regional
584 A.L. Brown, J.K. Affum / Comput., Environ. and Urban Systems 26 (2002) 577–590

and city-wide levels, while the average speed model is applied to detailed network
planning where the network is dense, with short link lengths and low speeds. The
TRAEMS program computes the main fuels used, namely leaded petroleum,
unleaded petroleum, liquefied petroleum gas and diesel fuel, along each link together
with the total network energy usage for the study area.

3.4.4. Storm water quality sub-module

The traditional method of considering road runoff as an indicator of the influence
of roadway-related activities on urban stormwater quality is possibly flawed
(Tomerini, 1997). This is because pollutants produced from roadway-related activ-
ities are distributed across the entire catchment, not only on road surfaces, through
the processes of interception, dry deposition, translocation and resuspension. As a
result, no reliable model for prediction of quantitative water quality impacts from
road transport exists. TRAEMS currently uses a very simple (and, as yet, unvali-
dated) model for traffic related stormwater pollution based on the traffic load
intensity within each water catchment (in terms of vehicle kilometres travelled per
catchment). The water quality sub-module uses:

1. the total vehicle kilometres travelled on roadways within a catchment as a

surrogate measure of the pollutant loads in stormwater; and
2. the assumption that roadway emissions within a particular catchment will lar-
gely be washed into that catchment.

The output is a display of the relative potential pollutant load in the receiving
water bodies across all subcatchments in the study area (referred to as the Relative
Potential Pollution). Improvement of the water quality model would require further
investigation of the pollutant build-up, wash-off, chemical change components of
the stormwater pollution system and hydrology of the catchment.

3.5. Scenario module

The scenario module is used to evaluate and assess the environmental effects of
different transport planning scenarios. This may involve predicting future changes in
relation to the existing state of the environment (i.e. changes between two time
periods), or comparing the impacts of different future scenarios (i.e. changes
between different transport proposal for the same time period). The ability to
accomplish such analysis is one of the important aspects of the TRAEMS modelling
approach. During the modelling session, the system keeps track of the outputs of
each scenario for any environmental model being run. It can then be directed to
compare results from any scenarios, say future impacts to the base year impacts.
The results are presented in the form of maps and charts showing the differences
in environmental impacts between the scenarios. The map display also depicts the
locations on the road network or areas where differences in environmental impacts
exist between the two scenarios, and their magnitude. A text file providing a sum-
mary of the evaluation results is also produced.
 A.L. Brown, J.K. Affum / Comput., Environ. and Urban Systems 26 (2002) 577–590 585

3.6. Output module

The output module is used to view and generate hard copies of model results. The
output results are in the form of thematic maps; graphical charts are tabular text
files. The paper size of the hard copies that can be generated is limited only by the
printer or plotter capabilities. Hard copies can therefore be generated at any size
specified by the user.

4. Application to a case study

4.1. Study area

TRAEMS was applied to data from the planning of a proposed bypass in inner
Brisbane City to assess the environmental implications of the project and its
alternatives. The proposed bypass (approximately 4 km in length) is intended to
alleviate traffic congestion on the existing northbound roads from the city centre.
The surrounding area has mixed residential, open spaces, industrial and commer-
cial land uses, and attracts high traffic flows including a comparatively high
proportion of heavy vehicles. The road network and traffic data for three scenar-
ios were analysed and tested during the transport modelling phase of the planning
process of the proposed bypass. The scenarios are the base year 1995 network and
modelled network and traffic flows for two future scenarios for the year 2011—
one with the bypass and the other, the do-nothing scenario, without the bypass.
Information available for each scenario from the TDM work by the transport
planners included the network geometry, traffic flows, link speeds and number of
traffic lanes on each road link. The modelled network had a total length of 88.2
km (illustrated in Fig. 2). Meteorological data, speed related air pollution emission
factors, and the location and setback distance from the modelled roadway net-
work of noise sensitive land uses were the additional data sets that had to be
obtained.
The location and setback distance of noise sensitive buildings in the area were
obtained using the ‘‘raster capture’’ sub-module in TRAEMS. The process required
the overlay of a digital raster image of the study area over the road network, and
overlay of a cadastral database containing detailed information of each land parcel
including the land use type. Using a heads-on digitising approach (i.e. digitising
based on screen image), the geographic coordinates of the front facade of each sen-
sitive land use were captured and the setback distance from the roadway computed.
In all, location details on 1549 residential dwellings fronting all links in the modelled
network were obtained. Buildings behind this row were not considered but experi-
ence is that the inaccuracies introduced by this deliberate omission, particularly near
freeways and at intersections, are low, given the planning purposes and scenario
comparisons for which TRAEMS is designed. Reducing the data requirements in
this way, by considering only the immediately impacted sensitive land uses, is critical
to encouraging wide application of the model. The case study considered dwellings
586 A.L. Brown, J.K. Affum / Comput., Environ. and Urban Systems 26 (2002) 577–590

as the only sensitive land use, but could easily be extended to schools, hospitals,
churches, and commercial premises.
The speed related air pollution emission factors (in g/m) were obtained from the
city-wide emission factors developed for the main air pollutants for the various
vehicle types by fuel for 1991, 2005 and 2011 as part of the Brisbane Integrated
Transport Study (ARUP, 1995)

4.2. Discussion of results

Analysis of the traffic flows indicated about 14.7% increase in vehicle kilometres
travelled over the modelled network between 1995 and 2011 with the construction of
the bypass. Without the bypass, the vehicle kilometres travelled increased by only
10.5%. Example results obtained from the TRAEMS modelling process for traffic
noise and NOx are shown in Figs. 2–5, illustrating its capabilities. Fig. 2 depicts how

Fig. 2. Noise immissions to the facade of dwellings (1995 scenario). (Link labels show the number of
dwellings exposed to excessive noise levels with the number exposed to high levels of noise in brackets.
‘‘Excessive’’ and ‘‘high’’ cut-off values are defined by the user within the program. The values shown in
brackets in the legend represent the number of road links in each range).
 A.L. Brown, J.K. Affum / Comput., Environ. and Urban Systems 26 (2002) 577–590 587

Fig. 3. Distribution of noise immissions at the facades of dwellings fronting the road network in the study
area (1995 scenario).

the noise-exposed buildings considered are distributed across the network for
1995. Fig. 3 shows the distribution of traffic noise immission levels at the facade of
buildings in the area for 1995. The results show that quite substantial numbers of
dwellings are already experiencing high noise levels. The result of the scenario test-
ing between the base year 1995 and the 2011 scenario with the bypass is shown in
Fig. 4. Overall, there will be an increase in the number of dwellings exposed to
excessive noise immission levels in some parts of the network while there is a
reduction in other parts. The major finding is the reduction in the number of dwell-
ings exposed to excessive noise immission levels along the arterial road running
almost parallel with the bypass. This is due to the reduction in traffic on that road
with the construction of the bypass. When compared with the do-nothing scenario,
the number of dwellings exposed to excessive noise levels was found to be lower
for the bypass scenario (see Table 1). This is due to the shift in traffic from the sur-
rounding roads onto the bypass and the fact that the bypass itself passes through an
area with no abutting residential dwellings, hence has little effect on noise exposure.
Fig. 5 presents changes in NOx emissions between 1995 and 2011, and shows expected
increase in most places in-line with the increased vehicle kilometres travelled.
The figures depicting changes in environmental impacts illustrate the capability of
TRAEMS to easily assess future transport plans and to facilitate the environmental
comparison of different scenarios being tested. As an important part of environ-
mental assessment involves predicting future changes in relation to the existing
conditions, this ability of TRAEMS to analyse changes by tapping into the ability of
transport planning processes to predict future travel patterns, demonstrates a sig-
nificant use of the system in planning. Both the quantity and location of changes are
easily recognised and can be dealt with using appropriate measures.
588 A.L. Brown, J.K. Affum / Comput., Environ. and Urban Systems 26 (2002) 577–590

Fig. 4. Change in noise immissions levels between 1995 and 2011 scenario with a bypass. (Link labels
indicate the difference in the number of dwellings exposed to excessive noise levels between the two sce-
narios. Positive value means an increase, negative value implies a reduction).

Table 1
Summary of noise immission levels (L10, 18h) for the two 2011 scenarios

Parameters No bypass Bypass

scenario scenario

No. dwellings exposed to excessive noise levels [568 dB(A)] 417 354
No. dwellings exposed to high noise levels [63–68 dB(A)] 497 526
Total No. dwellings exposed to noise immission levels of at 914 880
least 63 dB(A)

5. Conclusions

This paper has described a GIS-based add-on system to transport planning for
estimating the environmental impacts from road traffic networks that efficiently
utilises data produced by TDM in the transport planning process. Through the
identification of total pollutant load, and the location of this load in the network,
the model has the potential to allow transport and land use planners to examine
 A.L. Brown, J.K. Affum / Comput., Environ. and Urban Systems 26 (2002) 577–590 589

Fig. 5. Relative changes in NOx emission levels between 1995 and 2011 scenario with a bypass using
500 m grid cells.

environmental consequences, not just transport consequences of proposals. The

system has the ability to generate maps, charts and tables showing potential future
changes in the environmental impact from road traffic by comparing the
future environmental effects to those of the base year and between future year sce-
narios for use in planning and decision making.
The TRAEMS model is undergoing further development at Griffith University in
Brisbane.

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