Analysis of acoustic climate on board public transport

Abstract

The issue of thermal and acoustic comfort of passengers on board public transport has not yet been suitably faced in recent years. High-ranking of noise and improper thermal climate inside buses, trams and tubes can provoke justifiable complaints of passengers and noise impact. Noise impact may impair safety when it hinders communication inside the vehicles, causing fatigue, loss of concentration and is, obviously, annoying too. The research has been subdivided into two steps: the first is about thermal comfort and the second step has been drawn to evaluate by experimental measurements the main parameters characterizing the acoustic comfort: Equivalent sound pressure Level (Leq), Noise Rating (NR) and Speech Interference Level (SIL). All these parameters can give useful indications about the comfort status of passengers. Analysis and elaborations of measured data were taken to discover that passengers are often exposed to high levels of noise, which causes stress especially for older people and children. © 2013 WIT Press.