NOISE CONTROL IN THE BAY AREA RAPID TRANSIT SYSTEM

RAPID TRANSIT NOISE IS A VALID IRRITANT TO PASSENGERS IN THE CARS AND RESIDENTS ADJACENT TO THE RIGHT-OF-WAY OF THE RAPID TRANSIT SYSTEM. THE LABORATORY AND FIELD STUDIES FOR THE EVALUATION OF NOISE PREDICTION METHODS, THE MEASUREMENTS OF NOISE AND VIBRATION ON RAPID TRANSIT EQUIPMENT COMPONENTS AND FACILITIES, AND THE INTERPRETIVE COMPARISON OF MEASURED DATA FOR USE IN THE PRELIMINARY DESIGN OF NOISE AND VIBRATION REDUCTION FEATURES ARE THE MAIN TOPICS OF THIS REPORT. TEST RESULTS INDICATE THE NEED FOR CLOSE COORDINATION IN THE DESIGN OF BOTH THE ACOUSTICAL AND MECHANICAL FEATURES TO ENSURE THAT NOISE DOES NOT EXCEED NCA 65, A LEVEL WHICH WOULD ALLOW REASONABLY EASY CONVERSATION BETWEEN PASSENGERS IN THE SAME SEAT. TRAIN NOISE AT WAYSIDE SUBURBAN RESIDENCES AT NIGHT, IT WAS DETERMINED, SHOULD BE SUCH THAT THE SUM OF THE ANNOYANCE OF A SINGLE TRAIN IN PERCEIVED DECIBLES PLUS 15 LOG N (N BEING THE NUMBER OF TRAINS PASSING BETWEEN 10 P.M. AND 6 A.M.) SHOULD BE LESS THAN 110. FLARED TUNNEL OPENINGS ARE SUGGESTED TO REDUCE THE RATE OF CHANGE OF WAYSIDE AND IN-CAR NOISE. THE USE OF EITHER HEAVY ACOUSTICAL ABSORPTION, ADDED TO TRACK AND WALLS AT THE STATION AND AT LEAST THREE CAR LENGTHS BEYOND IT, OR BARRIER WALLS AT PLATFORM EDGES CAN EFFECTIVELY CONTROL NOISE IN SUBWAY STATIONS. FURTHER STUDY IS RECOMMENDED, AS WELL AS THE INITIATION OF A CONTINUOUS PROGRAM OF NOISE AND VIBRATION MEASUREMENTS, TO DETERMINE WHEN NOISE REDUCTION MAINTENANCE IS REQUIRED. /UMTA/

• Supplemental Notes:
  • PROJ NO CAL-MTD-2
• Corporate Authors:

  Stanford Research Institute

  333 Ravenswood Avenue
  Menlo Park, CA  United States  94025
• Authors:
  • Salmon, V
  • Oleson, S K
• Publication Date: 1966-7

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Noise control; Structural design; Suburbs; Tunnels; Vibration
• Identifier Terms: San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District
• Uncontrolled Terms: Tunnel design
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Highways; Safety and Human Factors;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 00223932
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: Urban Mass Transportation Administration
• Files: TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Jan 17 1973 12:00AM