Student Seminar by Mr. Chenming Niu on May 13, 2026, 2:00PM

Title: Unequal Traffic-Related Air Pollution: Identifying Vehicular Drivers of Exposure Disparity

Speaker: Mr. Chenming Niu (Department of Geography)

Date: May 13, 2026 (Wednesday)

Time: 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm

Venue: Room 1010, CLL, Department of Geography, 10/F, The Jockey Club Tower, The University of Hong Kong

Registration Link: https://forms.office.com/r/cgThea0b4d

ITS Student Committee will provide a beverage for registered participants.

Abstract: Traffic-related air pollution is a major source of near-road environmental inequality in dense cities, yet the vehicular sources of exposure disparities are often obscured by broad vehicle groupings and daily average estimates. In this seminar, we present a data-driven framework for Hong Kong that integrates high-resolution traffic counts, street imagery, detector data, machine learning, and computer vision to estimate hourly vehicular NOx and PM2.5 emissions across all road segments. The results reveal substantial exposure disparities across income and ethnic groups, with the main vehicular contributors varying over the day. Delivery fleets play a larger role in daytime disparities, while franchised buses become more important in the evening. These findings show the value of vehicle-specific and time-resolved analysis for understanding environmental inequalities and informing more targeted transport and air quality policies.

Bios: Chenming's research interest lies in traffic emission modeling, shared mobility modeling, environmental justice analysis, and transport equity analysis. Prior to joining HKU, he earned a Bachelor of Engineering in Traffic and Transportation from Southeast University and a Master of Science in Transportation Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley.