The impact of a low traffic neighbourhood intervention on urban noise measured with low-cost sensors in Oxford, UK

Abstract

Noise pollution, particularly in urban environments, is often caused by road traffic and is linked to increased risk of a range of adverse health outcomes. In recent years, Low Traffic Neighbourhoods (LTN) have been implemented in a number of UK towns and cities as an intervention to reduce road traffic and improve health and wellbeing among those living in residential areas. In this study, eight low-cost acoustic sensors (AudioMoth) were used to evaluate the effect of a LTN intervention on urban noise in a residential area of Oxford, UK. The acoustic energy and LAeq of the noise is evaluated before and after the introduction of the LTN at locations where traffic filters have been erected, other locations in the LTN, possible displacement locations, and a control location. In addition, source apportionment (anthropogenic or biotic) is undertaken using the Normalised Difference Soundscape Index (NDSI) using the frequency of the measured noise. The results show that in terms of acoustic energy almost all locations experienced a reduction in noise after the introduction of the LTN. In terms of the source apportionment, all locations except for the control location experienced more biotic noise after the introduction of the LTN. The results are also compared to other more traffic focussed locations in Oxford and the soundscape is much more biotic inside the LTN. Overall, the study demonstrates the impact of the LTN on urban noise, and the efficacy of this new sensing and analytical approach for evaluating noise pollution interventions.