Car free day : less noise pollution than expected

johny007pandp/epictura

Published the 02.10.2017 at 14: 00

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The Parisians have been able to breathe this Sunday. In the capital, cars and their emissions were banished from 11am to 18pm. The “car free Day” aims to raise awareness of the population about the air pollution, but not only. The noise induced by the traffic are also at the heart of the concerns of the Paris city hall, which wants to reduce the circulation of cars in Paris.

However, this year, the third edition of this event has not produced the expected effects on the levels of noise pollution. “The measuring stations of Bruitparif deployed in the vicinity of roads in Paris have made it possible to follow in real time the impact on the sound environment” of the car-free Day, says the paris agency, in a press release. This year, the perimeter was expanded to the whole of Paris intra-muros, with the exception of the ring road of the bois de Boulogne and the bois de Vincennes.

Average decrease of 20 %

Within the scope of restriction of the circulation of the nine measurement stations were documented, second after second, the variations in noise levels observed on the major roads (avenue des Champs-Elysées, rue de Rivoli, boulevard Sébastopol, docks high right bank, quai rive gauche Anatole France) or large squares (place Saint Michel, place Stalingrad).

The results of these stations were compared to measurements made on the preceding Sundays of September (10, 17 and 24 September), with traffic as usual. Two sites of measurement of the noise level of the boulevard périphérique (Porte d’auteuil and the Porte de Bagnolet and Porte des Lilas), allowed us also to identify whether changes in noise has been induced on this route that remained open to traffic.

“The decrease in overall average noise that has been recorded between 11 and 18h, within the perimeter of restricted circulation is around -1 dB(A). This is equivalent to a sound energy decreased by approximately 20%”, ad Bruitparif.

Differences between sites

But these results hide differences according to the sites documented. Thus, the avenue des Champs-Elysées has seen the decline in the most sensitive sound level : -2,7 dB(A) between 11 and 18h compared to the preceding Sundays, is a sound energy divided by two approximately.

Variations in noise levels observed on most of the other sites in Paris were lower, between-0.3 dB(A) and (-1,9 dB(A). On some sites (for example Site of the Battle of Stalingrad), entertainment, festive, generated at certain hours (between 12 and 13h, and between 16 and 17 in particular) ” noise levels significant enough to come to offset temporarily and locally to the observed decrease of the noise of traffic.”

Reductions of sound levels from road traffic have also been very dependent on the actual conditions of application of the operation ” Day without Car “. It must be remembered that some of the vehicles were allowed to drive : buses, taxis, emergency vehicles. “It is probable also that all the vehicles did not respect the speed limit which had been fixed at 30 km/h “, one can read.