This study is one of the first case studies to characterize the exposure of urban residents to traffic-related air pollution across locations and transportation microenvironments during everyday activities. Twenty-four adult residents of Boyle Heights, a neighborhood near downtown Los Angeles, carried a portable air pollution monitor and a Global Positioning Systems (GPS) tracking device for a total of 96 days. We found significant spatial and temporal variation in the particle-bound polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (pPAH) concentrations in transportation microenvironments. Average pPAH concentrations were higher while walking outdoors (190 ng m− 3) compared to traveling in private passenger vehicles (138–155 ng m− 3) or traveling in public transportation (61–124 ng m− 3). Although travel comprised 5% of participant days, it was associated with 27% of overall daily pPAH exposure. Regression models explained 40–55% of the variation in daily average pPAH concentrations, and 40–44% of the variation in 1-min interval concentrations. Important factors included time spent traveling, travel speed, meteorological and nearby land use factors, time of day, and proximity to roadways. Although future research is needed to develop stronger predictive models, our study demonstrates portable tracking devices can provide a more complete, diurnal characterization of air pollution exposures for urban populations.