How traffic noise captured our cities and how to regain our

cities

henk.wolfert@dcmr.nl

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22Content

IntroductionNoise in Europe EU27Traffic growthFactors influencing trafficOther developmentsAbundance of measures Why are parties so reluctant?What could/should be done?Conclusions/Discussion

Noise burden in EU2733

And traffic is still growing44

Factors influencing car use and car ownership

55

globalisation population growth individualisation ageing (dependency) prosperity Intensification (more with less)

computerisation social demands labour participation women Increased free time

spatial spread of work-living- services

desire to be independent in time and space

flexibility/manoeuvrability 24-7 economy life expectancy psychological factors educational factors patterns of social activities concerns, stress and safety

Demographic, societal, psychological, sociological

Other developments

Improving infrastructureExpanding infrastructureNegative media attention by PT failureDeterioration society and facilities

Feelings unsafe (areas, time of the day,..)Et cetera

66

regi

onal

A bucket full with measures

EU

national

loca

l

societyU

N_w

orldwide

77

Measures, plenty of them!

European level

National level

Regional and local level Societal level

Traffic Management Solutions• Speed reduction• Smoothing traffic flow• Dedicated lanes/restricted zones/parking space

Barriers*, bundling (??)• Lay-out• Quiet road surfaces

Road designFinancial/fiscal measures

Shift soft modes, car-sharing

Public TransportElectric and Hybrid vehicles

Insulation of façade

88

Why are parties so reluctant?

lack ofawareness

too manypriorities lack of

interest

doesn’tfit profile

lack of money

survivor

electoralmotives

weakgovernance

weather

timesavings

doesn’tfit in prgr

no idea

too lazy

comfort

habit

freedom

armor

99

seamlesstrips

status

journeychains

PoliticiansPolicymakersEntrepreneurs

Residents

Mind shift

Education/SocialisationFamilySchoolsSocial NetworksUsing social marketing techniquesUsing social media

Media use (health or family magazines, ..)Ambassadors and policy entrepreneurs

Tendency in youngsters (Dutch Mobility Plan 2012)

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Towards Sustainable Urban Areas by means of SUMP

Quality of life citizens can be expressed by prosperity, well-being and other indicators:

Wellbeing : satisfaction with lifeProsperity: consumption goods and services

Individual characteristics: health, living, education, free time, employment, mobility, etc.Environment: safety, equity, social participation, nature, good governance, air quality, clean soil, clean water, noise, etc.

1111

Towards a new mobility pattern as mobility is indispensible

Promote sustainable ways of transportationProvoke citizens, groups and entrepreneurs to chose STReward sustainable transportation (tangible/visible)Allow ST to dedicated areas as exemptionStimulate, fiscal or financial (user/polluter principle)Force enterprises /institutes to choose for ST of employees and goods (permitting, ordinance,..)Forbid/restrict car access (times and places)Authorities should be a shining example

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Urban planning and Noise

Intensification urbanisation (80% rule, less car use)Speed up actions proposed by European Union regarding curbing fossil fuelled cars by 2030 and 2050Improve availability and quality of Public TransportFacilities for quiet and clean vehicles such as

Free parking placeFree electric charging polesBetter access to facilities

Limited parking space (housing, offices)Sustainable good deliveries (clean, quiet, energy friendly)

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Road design

Quiet road surface

Positioning lanes, service- and biking/walking lanes

Optimised for less annoyance (road network)

Neighbourhood design

Car restricted/free

PT stops at short distance, nodes to connect

Quiet Areas and Green

Orientation and lay-out of sensitive buildings

Closed façades

Double façades

Sensitive rooms at the back (quiet) side

Urban planning and Noise II1414

Conclusions

We cannot stop car mobility, no way to ban the iron horse at all, it’s valuable for economy, quality of life, etcIt’s hard to change human behaviour [INTERNOISE2010]

should pull and push?educate and socialisation

Urbanization helps a little (80% and less car use)Sustainable Urban Mobility is a must! SUMP’s(Plug-in) Hybrids and Electric Vehicles are allowed to enter urban areas; Conventionally fuelled cars are presumably prohibited as from 2050 (EU), are there ways to speed up?

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