Comparison of driving characteristics in cities of Pearl River Delta, China

The cities in Pearl River Delta (PRD), China are going to merge into a big economy in the coming years. Hong Kong, Macao and Zhuhai are the three leading cities in PRD. A Hong Kong–Zhuhai–Macao Bridge is being actively proposed to link up these three cities. It will result in the changes of driving characteristics and thus, vehicle emissions. To quantify the impacts of emissions, we adopted a three-step approach to analyze the driving characteristics in these three cities. The approach involved deriving 10 driving parameters; the speed acceleration probability matrices (SAPM) as well as the driving cycles which allowed easy visualization of the driving characteristics. Car chasing technique was employed to collect speed–time data in peak and non-peak periods on both weekdays and weekends. The experimental cars were equipped with infrared tachometer, Global Positioning System receiver and microwave speed sensor. Through comparisons, we found major differences in driving characteristics including magnitude as well as spread and time proportions of driving speeds. These differences were attributed by the road network layout, vehicle density and driving behaviour. Aggressive driving and low driving speeds in urban cities would generate higher vehicle emissions.