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To devise and implement strategies to manage the quality of urban air, a metropolis needs air pollution data on which an air quality management plan can be formulated. Although air pollutants can come from several sources, many reports suggest that nitrogen dioxide from motor vehicle emissions is the major contributor to air pollution in cities. Since vehicles stop or move slowly through traffic intersections, concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) are expected to be relatively high at these sites. Inexpensive Ogawa passive samplers were placed at selected traffic intersections in the Durban Metropolis to trap the NO2 which was then analysed by a sensitive laboratory-based method. The data obtained by this method was compared with data from sophisticated system comprising an active sampler cum on-line chemiluminescence detector. The sampling was done over a twelve month period to cover all seasons. Statistical analysis of the data showed that there was no significant difference between the means for the two methods. This study has established that an Ogawa passive sampler may be used as an economical and reliable collector for NO2 in ambient air under varying climatic conditions. Further, the analysis method using a UV–Visible spectrophotometer was sensitive enough to detect NO2 at the 10–20 ppb level. The cost of the method should be well within the budgets of most municipalities and it would motivate them to develop policies to alleviate traffic congestion. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]