Evaluating the Impact of Metro Interior Noise on Passenger Annoyance: An Experimental Study

Meng Ma, Wenqian Ran, Jinping Wu, Minghang Li and Xiangyu Qu
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Meng Ma: School of Civil Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China
Wenqian Ran: School of Civil Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China
Jinping Wu: School of Civil Engineering, Beijing Jiaotong University, Beijing 100044, China
Minghang Li: Urban Rail Transit Center, China Academy of Railway Sciences Corporation Limited, Beijing 100081, China

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 9, 1-19

Abstract: The operation of a large-scale metro system creates problematic interior noise; the impact of this noise on passengers and drivers is a subject of increasing concern. To investigate the quantitative relationship between metro interior noise and passengers’ annoyance, this study analyzed questionnaires on passenger annoyance completed by 118 volunteers. The feedback from the questionnaire concerned eleven metro lines in Beijing. To test the interior noise levels, the volunteers were divided into two groups: A and B. The volunteers in group A took the same metro train as the testers, whereas those in group B took different trains. A total of 2080 noise annoyance samples from metro tunnel sections were collected and analyzed. Finally, the exposure-response relationship between interior noise and passenger annoyance was obtained by fitting these data with a logistic function. The results indicated that there was a significant positive correlation between the average subjective annoyance and the averaged equivalent sound pressure level. The fitting result was better for group A than for group B. For the mixed samples of two groups, the fitting result was greatly affected by the contribution of group A. To provide an acoustically comfortable environment, metro interior noise should not exceed 84–85 dB(A).

Keywords: metro; interior noise; noise test; annoyance rating; exposure-response relationship (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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