Evaluation of Traffic Noise Pollution in Amman, Jordan

The City of Amman, Jordan, has been subjected to persistent increase in road traffic due to overall increase in prosperity, fast development and expansion of economy, travel and tourism. This study investigates traffic noise pollution in Amman. Road traffic noise index L ₁₀(1 h) was measured at 28 locations that cover most of the City of Amman. Noise measurements were carried out at these 28 locations two times a day for a period of one hour during the early morning and early evening rush hours, in the presence and absence of a barrier. The Calculation of Road Traffic Noise (CRTN) prediction model was employed to predict noise levels at the locations chosen for the study. Data required for the model include traffic volume, speed, percentage of heavy vehicles, road surface, gradient, obstructions, distance, noise path, intervening ground, effect of shielding, and angle of view. The results of the investigation showed that the minimum and the maximum noise levels are 46 dB(A) and 81 dB(A) during day-time and 58 dB(A) and 71 dB(A) during night-time. The measured noise level exceeded the 62 dB(A) acceptable limit at most of the locations. The CTRN prediction model was successful in predicting noise levels at most of the locations chosen for this investigation, with more accurate predictions for night-time measurements.     

Determination of Path Coefficients and Its Application in Road Traffic Noise Annoyance – a Theoretical Approach

This paper elucidates the basic approach of determining the path coefficients and its significance in the road traffic noise annoyance. Path model not only outline the direct effect of the traffic noise on the nearby residents but also indicate the indirect effect via other variables. In this study seven variables were considered for determining road traffic noise annoyance. However the same would be equally applicable for other situations like aircraft noise, rail noise, and industry noise with the different variables. At the outset a priori path model was designed and then on the basis of the partial regression coefficient values for the different paths, the revised path model was developed. The standardized partial regression coefficients known as path coefficients, determine the strength of the linkage among variables. Some of the paths in the model were not statistically significant. Revised path models were developed by deleting the insignificant paths whose values were found above 5% level. In the revised path model, thus the direct and indirect effect due to a particular variable causing the road traffic noise annoyance could be observed.     

Degradation of natural habitats by roads: Comparing land-take and noise effect zone

Roads may act as barriers, negatively influencing the movement of animals, thereby causing disruption in landscapes. Roads cause habitat loss and fragmentation not only through their physical occupation, but also through traffic noise. The aim of this study is to provide a method to quantify the habitat degradation including habitat loss and fragmentation due to road traffic noise and to compare it with those of road land-take. Two types of fragmentation effects are determined: structural fragmentation (based on road land-take only), and functional fragmentation (noise effect zone fragmentation, buffer using a threshold of 40 dB). Noise propagation for roads with a traffic volume of more than 1000 vehicles per day was simulated by Calculation of Road Traffic Noise (CRTN) model. Habitat loss and fragmentation through land-take and noise effect zone were calculated and compared in Zagros Mountains in western Iran. The study area is characterized by three main habitat types (oak forest, scattered woodland and temperate grassland) which host endangered and protected wildlife species. Due to topographic conditions, land cover type, and the traffic volume in the region, the noise effect zone ranged from 50 to 2000 m which covers 18.3% (i.e. 516,929.95 ha) of the total study area. The results showed that the habitat loss due to noise effect zone is dramatically higher than that due to road land-take only (35% versus 1.04% of the total area). Temperate grasslands lost the highest proportion of the original area by both land-take and noise effect zone, but most area was lost in scattered woodland as compared to the other two habitat types. The results showed that considering the noise effect zone for habitat fragmentation resulted in an increase of 25.8% of the area affected (316,810 ha) as compared to using the land-take only (555,874 ha vs. 239,064 ha, respectively). The results revealed that the degree of habitat fragmentation is increasing by considering the noise effect zone. We conclude that, although the roads are breaking apart the patches by land-take, road noise not only dissects habitat patches but takes much larger proportions of or even functionally eliminates entire patches.     

Road Traffic Noise Prediction Model under Interrupted Traffic Flow Condition

The objective of this study is to develop an empirical traffic noise prediction model under interrupted traffic flow conditions using two analytical the approaches, the first being the acceleration lane approach and second being the deceleration approach. The urban road network of Bangalore city has been selected as the study area. Sixteen locations are chosen in major traffic junctions of the study area. The traffic noise data collected from the study locations were analyzed separately for both acceleration and deceleration lanes when vehicles leave an intersection on a green traffic light and come to a stop on red traffic light. Based on the study, a regression noise prediction model has been developed for both acceleration and deceleration lanes.     

灰色理论及其模型在北京典型城市区域声环境研究中的应用

以北京市某典型区域作为研究对象,在收集大量相关资料与实测历史噪声数据的基础上,对研究区域内的声环境质量影响因素进行灰色关联度分析,并运用灰色理论建立GM（1,1）模型进行预测。结果表明,影响城市区域声环境质量因素从大到小的排序依次为：机动车辆﹥常住人口数量﹥平均车流量﹥地区生产总值﹥城市道路桥梁﹥基础设施投资﹥治理噪声环保投资;以研究区域内噪声污染实测历史数据建立的GM（1,1）模型精度符合要求标准,根据GM（1,1）模型预测北京市“十二五”期间声环境质量达标且有轻微下降趋势。     

Assessment of Traffic Noise Pollution from 1989 to 2003 in Lanzhou City

On the basis of the continuous traffic noise data observed at 142 sites distributed in 52 roads from 1989 to 2003, the characteristics of traffic noise and effect factors were analyzed through traffic noise indices, such as Lep, L10, L50, L90, TNI, and Pn. Our findings allow us to reach a number of conclusions as follows: Firstly, traffic noise pollution was serious, and its fluctuant characteristic was obvious, resulting in a great intrusion to public in Lanzhou City during last 15 years. Secondly, traffic noise made a distinction between trunk lines and secondary lines, west-east direction roads and north-south direction roads. Thirdly, spatial character and time rule of traffic noise were obvious. In addition, traffic volume, traffic composition, road condition, and traffic management were identified as the key factors influencing traffic noise in this city.     

Potential Vulnerability Implications of Sea Level Rise for the Coastal Zones of Cochin, Southwest Coast of India

This study presents the results of the impact assessment analysis of the coastal zones of Cochin along the southwest coast of India. The climatological cycle of sea level derived for the region for the period 1939–2003 has shown a range of about 17 cm. From the results obtained on the coastal sedimentary environments, it is found that climate-induced sea level rise scenarios will bring profound effects. It is also revealed that the mean beach slope and relief play a vital role in land loss of the region. The local relief of coastal zone will decrease as sea level rises, thus increasing the percentage of land above mean sea level subjected to episodic inundations. Results of the yearly probability of damages indicated the urgency to upgrade the existing designs of coastal protection structures. A brief characterisation of the issues on infrastructure and uncertainties in policy planning also are attempted.     

Evolution of building façade road traffic noise levels in Flanders

The evolution of daytime fa?ade noise levels by road traffic at 250 dwellings in Flanders is assessed. Three identical man-operated measurement campaigns have been conducted in the years 1996, 2001 and 2009, during fall. A practical methodology has been developed, based on short time noise measurements and context observations at these locations. The uncertainty introduced by short-term sampling has been quantified as a function of the noise level. Furthermore, a correction is proposed for measuring at a random moment during daytime. Analysis of the data showed that road traffic noise levels hardly changed globally over this period of 13 years. The distribution of changes in noise level at corresponding measurement locations is nevertheless rather wide-all improvements are equally compensated by increases in noise levels at other locations. The percentage of the dwelling fa?ades exposed to daytime noise levels above 65 dBA has increased slightly between 1996 and 2001, but seems to stagnate in 2009. In spite of the increased interest and actions of policy makers during the past decades, noise exposure caused by road traffic at dwelling fa?ades is a persistent problem.     

Immersive virtual reality and environmental noise assessment: An innovative audio–visual approach

Several international studies have shown that traffic noise has a negative impact on people's health and that people's annoyance does not depend only on noise energetic levels, but rather on multi-perceptual factors. The combination of virtual reality technology and audio rendering techniques allow us to experiment a new approach for environmental noise assessment that can help to investigate in advance the potential negative effects of noise associated with a specific project and that in turn can help designers to make educated decisions. In the present study, the audio–visual impact of a new motorway project on people has been assessed by means of immersive virtual reality technology. In particular, participants were exposed to 3D reconstructions of an actual landscape without the projected motorway (ante operam condition), and of the same landscape with the projected motorway (post operam condition). Furthermore, individuals' reactions to noise were assessed by means of objective cognitive measures (short term verbal memory and executive functions) and subjective evaluations (noise and visual annoyance). Overall, the results showed that the introduction of a projected motorway in the environment can have immediate detrimental effects of people's well-being depending on the distance from the noise source. In particular, noise due to the new infrastructure seems to exert a negative influence on short term verbal memory and to increase both visual and noise annoyance. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Hydrodynamic Simulation of River Yamuna for Riverbed Assessment: A Case Study of Delhi Region

A well known river hydrodynamic model RiverCAD has been used to simulate and visualize flood scenarios for different designated flood flows under complex riverbed geometry with several man made structures like bridges and barrages. The model applied successfully for the stretch of 23 km in the Yamuna floodplain of Delhi region from Wazirabad barrage in the upstream to Okhla barrage. Flood flows for various return periods namely once in 10, 25, 50 and 100 years were estimated based on recorded flow data for the period of 1963 to 2003 using standard flood frequency analysis techniques. The simulation results were compared and the model was calibrated with water surface elevation records of the previous floods at various barrage and bridge locations. Simulation results enabled prediction of maximum water levels, submergence scenarios and land availability under different designated flood flows for riverbed assessment, development and management.     

2Loud?: Community mapping of exposure to traffic noise with mobile phones

Despite ample medical evidence of the adverse impacts of traffic noise on health, most policies for traffic noise management are arbitrary or incomplete, resulting in serious social and economic impacts. Surprisingly, there is limited information about citizen’s exposure to traffic noise worldwide. This paper presents the 2Loud? mobile phone application, developed and tested as a methodology to monitor, assess and map the level of exposure to traffic noise of citizens with focus on the night period and indoor locations, since sleep disturbance is one of the major triggers for ill health related to traffic noise. Based on a community participation experiment using the 2Loud? mobile phone application in a region close to freeways in Australia, the results of this research indicates a good level of accuracy for the noise monitoring by mobile phones and also demonstrates significant levels of indoor night exposure to traffic noise in the study area. The proposed methodology, through the data produced and the participatory process involved, can potentially assist in planning and management towards healthier urban environments.     

北京市公交车噪声测试与分析

公交车已成为当前北京市道路交通噪声的主要束源之一,针对公交车声源模型缺乏而沿用大型车声源模型所致的噪声预测误差问题,在北京市选取了两类常见公交车进行了537辆车的单车通过噪声测试,在无效数据剔除和背景噪声修正后,利用回归分析法获得了北京市公交车声源模型,通过与现有《公路建设项目环境影响评价规范》中大型车声源模型的比较,显示出建立北京市公交车噪声声源模型的必要性。基于《公路建设项目环境影响评价规范》中的道路交通噪声预测方法,提出了符合北京市实际情况的道路交通噪声预测模型。     

Assessing the influence of urban transportation infrastructure construction on haze pollution in China: A case study of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region

The construction of urban transportation infrastructure is bound to have an impact on air pollution. The purpose of this paper is to verify whether strengthening the construction of urban transportation infrastructure can reduce haze pollution. The core innovation of this paper is that the fixed asset investment of urban municipal public facilities and urban road areas are used as the proxy indicator of transportation infrastructure, which is rarely adopted in the existing literature. The relationship between transportation infrastructure and haze pollution is discussed, and the endogenous problems caused by variables omission are also considered. Based on the panel data of 13 prefecture-level cities of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei (BTH) region from 2005 to 2016, we use the slope index as the instrumental variable for urban transportation infrastructure, with the two-stage least squares method (2SLS) applied. The results suggest that: (i)increasing urban transportation infrastructure investment can significantly improve the air quality of the sample cities and mitigate haze pollution levels; (ii)After using the instrumental variable to alleviate endogenous bias, the inhibitory effect is more obvious; (iii)Compared with the fixed asset investment in the construction of public facilities, the increase of urban road area has a better effect on the improvement of haze pollution. What we learned from the conclusions is: traffic management department should strengthen the transportation infrastructure construction to realize the balance between urban construction and environmental protection.     

A case study predicting environmental impacts of urban transport planning in China

Predicting environmental impacts is essential when performing an environmental assessment on urban transport planning. System dynamics (SD) is usually used to solve complex nonlinear problems. In this study, we utilized system dynamics (SD) to evaluate the environmental impacts associated with urban transport planning in Jilin City, China with respect to the local economy, society, transport, the environment and resources. To accomplish this, we generated simulation models comprising interrelated subsystems designed to utilize changes in the economy, society, road construction, changes in the number of vehicles, the capacity of the road network capacity, nitrogen oxides emission, traffic noise, land used for road construction and fuel consumption associated with traffic to estimate dynamic trends in the environmental impacts associated with Jilin's transport planning. Two simulation scenarios were then analyzed comparatively. The results of this study indicated that implementation of Jilin transport planning would improve the current urban traffic conditions and boost the local economy and development while benefiting the environment in Jilin City. In addition, comparative analysis of the two scenarios provided additional information that can be used to aid in scientific decision-making regarding which aspects of the transport planning to implement in Jilin City. This study demonstrates that our application of the SD method, which is referred to as the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA), is feasible for use in urban transport planning.     

Source apportionment of personal exposure of fine particulates among school communities in India

Source contribution estimates (SCE) of school community personal Respirable Particulate Matter (RPM) have been investigated. Reported relationships of personal RPM with Ambient-outdoors and indoor RPM levels have given the concept of defining the sources of personal exposure. Ambient-outdoors, indoors, soils and local road- traffic dusts were identified as main routes and principal sources of fine particulates at personal exposure levels. Fifteen subjects (05 from each of three schools) were selected from previous conducted study of interrelationships among classified atmospheric receptors in theses schools located in Bhilai-Durg, District Durg, India. Samples of RPM collected from identified receptors and sources were analyzed for selected chemical constituents and the chemical data has been utilized in preparation of source-receptor profiles. Chemical mass balance (CMB8) model has been used for source apportionment study. Major dominating source is ambient-outdoors in case of school located near to steel plant downwind. Indoors and road-traffic dusts have also played dominating role in case of school located near to National Highways. Indoor ventilation properties have played an important role in source contribution estimates.     

城市典型高架复合道路交通噪声污染模拟及防治对策

与一般城市道路相比,城市高架复合道路通行能力大、行车速度高、车辆行驶状态复杂,交通噪声污染极为突出。选取深圳市典型的高架复合道路——春风高架和爱国高架进行实地监测,同时运用SoundPLAN软件模拟其噪声污染现状与安装声屏障后的降噪效果。根据监测模拟结果,从合理进行道路规划、装设声屏障和铺设低噪声路面等方面提出高架复合道路噪声污染控制的对策建议。     

Assessing the effects of noise abatement measures on health risks: A case study in Istanbul

In recent decades, noise pollution caused by industrialization and increased motorization has become a major concern around the world because of its adverse effects on human well-being. Therefore, transportation agencies have been implementing noise abatement measures in order to reduce road traffic noise. However, limited attention is given to noise in environmental assessment of road transportation systems. This paper presents a framework for a health impact assessment model for road transportation noise emissions. The model allows noise impacts to be addressed with the health effects of air pollutant and greenhouse gas emissions from road transportation. The health damages assessed in the model include annoyance, sleep disturbance, and cardiovascular disease in terms of acute myocardial infarction. The model was applied in a case study in Istanbul in order to evaluate the change in health risks from the implementation of noise abatement strategies. The noise abatement strategies evaluated include altering pavement surfaces in order to absorb noise and introducing speed limits. It was shown that significant improvements in health risks can be achieved using open graded pavement surfaces and introducing speed limits on highways.     

Attitudinal response towards road traffic noise in the industrial town of Asansol, India

The major objective of the investigation was to evaluate the road traffic noise and its likely impacts on the local community of Asansol city (West Bengal, India) by monitoring and modeling. The attitudinal response of local population due to existing vehicular noise is presented in the paper. Noise and Attitudinal Survey was conducted at 25 locations. A total of 869 individuals were surveyed. The relationship between traffic noise levels and annoyance was studied using correlation, linear and multiple linear regressions analysis. The average L(dn) value was 73.28 +/- 8.51 dB(A) (55.1-87.3); The Traffic Noise Index (TNI) was 80.62 +/- 15.88 dB(A) (49.4-115.8). The mean value of percent of population Highly Annoyed (%HA) due to road traffic noise was 26.50 +/- 3.37 (19.44-33.2), whereas the mean dissatisfaction score (MDS) was 2.96 +/- 0.90 (1.04-4.45). Annoyance modeling was also performed based on field data. It can be said that Noise values gives desirable annoyance predicting values in comparison to vehicular data.     

Inclusion of Noise in Environmental Assessment of Road Transportation

In life cycle assessment (LCA) of road transportation systems, limited attention is given to noise as an impact category. This paper presents a method in order to include the environmental effects of noise in the LCA of road transportation. Life cycle inventory is developed based on the IMAGINE road vehicle noise emission model. Life cycle impact assessment is based on cause-effect chain including fate, exposure, effect, and damage analysis. The health effects of road traffic noise are evaluated in terms of acute myocardial infarction, annoyance, and sleep disturbance. The corresponding health damages are quantified using disability adjusted life years (DALY). A case study evaluating the health effects of road transportation noise for the nine municipalities of Istanbul using the proposed method is also presented. It was shown that transportation noise has significant adverse health effects and therefore should be accounted for in the LCA of road transportation along with other environmental interventions.