Present study was designed to characterize the concentrations of major roadside air pollutants in Daegu and to compare with those of Seoul and Busan. Evaluated were the exceedance frequence of mean concentrations of target compounds(CO, NO2, O3, PM10, SO2) and the relationship for time variation. Two air pollution monitoring stations(one roadside station and one residential station) in Daegu were selected for this study. In addition, one roadside monitoring station from each of Seoul and Busan was chosen for the comparison of Daegu monitoring stations. The data analyzed in the current study were collected from 1998 to 2000 by Daegu Regional Environmental Management Office. The roadside concentrations of NO2 and PM10 and the exceedance frequency of ambient air standard levels in Daegu were higher than those of Seoul and Busan. Except O3, the roadside concentrations of all target compounds showed following three distinguished patterns; first, possibly due to increased traffic density, the concentrations increased from 0500 to 0900(LST), second, the concentrations decreased from 0900 to 1700(LST) possibly due to the increased wind velocity and decreased traffic density, and finally, increased traffic density, the concentrations increased again from 1700 to 2100(LST). An implication was that major air pollution sources shifted from residential area to road-area during rush hours.