Noise exposure assessment and prevention around high-speed rail

Although sound barriers have been installed along the noise-sensitive areas of the Taiwan High-Speed Rail (THSR) network, many residents complain about the noise. Therefore, this study explored noise levels along the THSR network in central Taiwan through noise measurements, noise simulations, and questionnaire survey. In addition, noise exposure population and effectiveness of regulation standards for THSR were evaluated. The results show that the measured noises were lower than the regulatory standards and the maximum noise level ( L max ) exceeded the background noise level by more than 20 dB(A). But the questionnaire survey revealed that within 100 m of the THSR track, 69% residents were highly annoyed by the noise. Such results implied that L max was possibly the main affect on the residents. In other words, the effectiveness of the Taiwan noise standard should be further assessed. Noise simulation software, SoundPLAN, can precisely predict the L max at the locations of residents, and then a relationship between L max and feeling of highly annoyed could be created for policy-making reference.