FROM: RTA NSW website
The RTA is committed to effectively managing the roads and traffic system to minimise impacts on air quality.
It does this through activities such as encouraging transport alternatives to cars, working to improve vehicle and fuel standards to reduce emissions and a range of other measures.
The RTA has a major role in implementing Action for Air – the NSW Government’s 25 year air quality management.
The main areas affected by air pollution in NSW are the urban areas of the Greater Metropolitan Region (GMR) - Sydney, Newcastle and Wollongong - which contain about 70 per cent of the State's population. The two regional air pollution problems of prime concern are photochemical smog and particle pollution.
Photochemical smog is a whitish haze formed from the action of sunlight on chemical compounds. In the GMR, two of the most significant components are ozone and oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Motor vehicles contribute approximately 80 per cent of NOx to the atmosphere in the GMR. Particle pollution is evident as the brown haze sometimes seen in the cooler months of the year. It is composed of airborne particles of which approximately 24 per cent are from motor vehicles, with approximately 80 per cent from diesel vehicles.
This page is maintained by
The Rivermouth Action Group Inc
as a community service.
E-mail: activist@rag.org.au