Noise Impact and Improvement on Indoors Acoustic Comfort for the Building Adjacent to Heavy Traffic Road

A good acoustic environment is absolutely essential to maintaining a high level satisfaction and moral health among residents. Noise and other boresome sounds come from both in- door and outdoor sources. For the residential buildings adjacent to heavy traffic roads, outdoors traffic noise is the main source that affects indoor acoustic quality and health. Ventilation and outdoor noise prevention become a pair of contradictions for the residents in China nowadays for those buildings adjacent to heavy traffic roads. It is investigated that traffic noise emission is mainly con- stituted by the motors of trucks, buses and motorcycles as well as brake. In this paper, two methods of traffic noise reduction on the indoor sound environment and comfort are carried out to study and compare the residential buildings adjacent to heavy traffic roadway in a city. One is to install noise barriers on the two sides of the roadway, which consist of sound-proof glass and plas- tic materials. The effect of sound-insulation of this method is heavily dependent on the relative distance between the noise bar- rier and indoors. A reduction of sound with an average pressure level of 2–15dB is achieved on the places behind and under the noise barrier. However, for the equivalent of noise barrier height, the noise reduction effect is little. As for the places of higher than the noise barrier, the traffic noise will be even strengthened by 3–7dB. Noise increment can be seen at the points of distance farther than 15m and height more than noise barrier; the noise reduction effect is not satisfactory or even worsened. In addition, not every location is appropriate to install the noise barrier along the heavy traffic roads. The other method of noise reduction for the buildings adjacent to heavy traffic is to install the airproof and soundproof windows, which is the conversion from natural venti- lation to mechanical ventilation. A reduction of sound with an average pressure level of 5dB to 17dB can be achieved compared with common glass windows, if adopting sound proof glass win- dows. These two methods are helpful to isolate high frequency noise but not for low frequency noise. For those frequency noises, installing thick and cotton curtain and porous carpet can only decrease 2.4–4.5dB, which hardly contributes to indoor sound comfort, so further study is demanded to cut down traffic noise, especially to cut down the low frequency noise.

Analysis of the Impact of Road Traffic Safety Facilities on Traffic Safety

The development of the national economy is closely tied to infrastructure construction.In recent years,China has seen a significant increase in the number and scale of road construction projects,aimed at facilitating the flow of goods and enabling convenient travel for the masses.However,this surge in road construction also raises concerns about road traffic safety.Road traffic safety facilities play a crucial role in warning and protecting against traffic accidents.To ensure their effective implementation,this paper analyzes the essence of road traffic facilities and their impact on traffic safety.By identifying challenges in the application of traffic safety facilities and adhering to safety facility application principles,suggestions are proposed to enhance traffic safety management.

Driving Behavior Shaping Model in Road Traffic System

In order to give a new way for modeling driving behavior, identifying road traffic accident causation and solving a variety of road traffic safety problems such as driving errors prevention and driving behavior analysis, a new driving behavior shaping model is proposed, which could be used to assess the degree of effect of driving error upon road traffic safety. Driver behavior shaping model based on driving reliability and safety analysis could be used to identify the road traffic accident causation, to supply data for driver's behavior training, to evaluate driving procedures, to human factor design of road traffic system.

Safer Design and Less Cost Operation for Low-Traffic Long-Road Illumination Using Control System Based on Pattern Recognition Technique

The paper covers analysis and investigation of lighting automation system in low-traffic long-roads. The main objective is to provide optimal solution between expensive safe design that utilizes continuous street lighting system at night for the entire road, or inexpensive design that sacrifices the safety, relying on using vehicles lighting, to eliminate the problem of high cost energy consumption during the night operation of the road. By taking into account both of these factors, smart lighting automation system is proposed using Pattern Recognition Technique applied on vehicle number-plates. In this proposal, the road is sectionalized into zones, and based on smart Pattern Recognition Technique, the control system of the road lighting illuminates only the zone that the vehicles pass through. Economic analysis is provided in this paper to support the value of using this design of lighting control system.

Problems in Ecological Landscape and Traffic Safety of Urban Roads

This study mainly analyzed problems in ecological landscape and traffic safety of urban roads, and in view of these problems, proposed the design concepts, principles and focuses of urban road eco-landscape ensuring traffic safety.

Alternatives of Strategic Environmental Assessment for Road Traffic Development Planning——Case of Changchun City,China

On analyzing the achievement of the goal in the modem urban road traffic development planning, the alternative of Strategic Environmental Assessment for urban traffic planning should include the basic scheme, the extended scheme and the environmental protection scheme. This study from different perspectives designed the alternatives for Changchun＇s county-level road and urban road system planning, and used the method of System Dynamics to simulate, optimize and analyze those alternatives. Thereafter, some methods including the correlation function method were used to comprehensively assess and rank those alternatives for recommending two best alternatives with the consideration to the indicators, such as the total emission amount of CO, the total emission amount of nitrogen oxides, the noise value, the road construction cost, the fossil oil consumption and the traffic capacity. The result showed that the study would provide substantial supports for decision-makers to make more scientific decisions and promote the sustainable urban traffic in Changchun City.

Road traffic states estimation algorithm based on matching of regional traffic attracters

To effectively solve the traffic data problems such as data invalidation in the process of the acquisition of road traffic states,a road traffic states estimation algorithm based on matching of the regional traffic attracters was proposed in this work.First of all,the road traffic running states were divided into several different modes.The concept of the regional traffic attracters of the target link was put forward for effective matching.Then,the reference sequences of characteristics of traffic running states with the contents of the target link's traffic running states and regional traffic attracters under different modes were established.In addition,the current and historical regional traffic attracters of the target link were matched through certain matching rules,and the historical traffic running states of the target link corresponding to the optimal matching were selected as the initial recovery data,which were processed with Kalman filter to obtain the final recovery data.Finally,some typical expressways in Beijing were adopted for the verification of this road traffic states estimation algorithm.The results prove that this traffic states estimation approach based on matching of the regional traffic attracters is feasible and can achieve a high accuracy.

Real-time road traffic states estimation based on kernel-KNN matching of road traffic spatial characteristics

The accurate estimation of road traffic states can provide decision making for travelers and traffic managers. In this work,an algorithm based on kernel-k nearest neighbor(KNN) matching of road traffic spatial characteristics is presented to estimate road traffic states. Firstly, the representative road traffic state data were extracted to establish the reference sequences of road traffic running characteristics(RSRTRC). Secondly, the spatial road traffic state data sequence was selected and the kernel function was constructed, with which the spatial road traffic data sequence could be mapped into a high dimensional feature space. Thirdly, the referenced and current spatial road traffic data sequences were extracted and the Euclidean distances in the feature space between them were obtained. Finally, the road traffic states were estimated from weighted averages of the selected k road traffic states, which corresponded to the nearest Euclidean distances. Several typical links in Beijing were adopted for case studies. The final results of the experiments show that the accuracy of this algorithm for estimating speed and volume is 95.27% and 91.32% respectively, which prove that this road traffic states estimation approach based on kernel-KNN matching of road traffic spatial characteristics is feasible and can achieve a high accuracy.

Road traffic nanoparticle characteristics:Sustainable environment and mobility

Human effects and environment impacts associated with nanoparticles generated from road traffic have recently attracted wide attention.Knowledge of the influencing variables on both number and mass of nanoparticles,sources,characteristics and limitations of advanced commercially accessible instruments for monitoring nanoparticles,are still scarce and not sufficient to make regulatory decision on solid particles smaller than 23 nm(SPN<23 nm).Given the harmful effects of nanoparticles on human health(i.e.visibility impairment,cardiac-rhythm disturbance,heart attacks,premature death,etc.),their control and assessment seem to be an absolute priority.In this overview,we classify and analyze the existing knowledge of nanoparticles in road traffic atmosphere,recent progress,and emerging priorities in research related to these topics.The major aspects of ongoing research in this field,and a brief discussion of the main sources of atmosphere nanoparticles are presented.The subsequent section focuses on the influencing parameters of nanoparticles including climate conditions,height above the road surface and distance between source(road traffic)and sampling site.The next section provides a comprehensive summary on sampling measurement methodologies and instrumental techniques.We also review the health and environment implications associated with particle exposure.Finally,an evaluation of the state of research related to nanoparticles together with highlights for future research activities are also presented.

Evolution of Road Traffic Congestion Control:A Survey from Perspective of Sensing,Communication,and Computation

Road traffic congestion can inevitably de-grade road infrastructure and decrease travel efficiency in urban traffic networks,which can be relieved by employing appropriate congestion control.Accord-ing to different developmental driving forces,in this paper,the evolution of road traffic congestion control is divided into two stages.The ever-growing num-ber of advanced sensing techniques can be seen as the key driving force of the first stage,called the sens-ing stage,in which congestion control strategies ex-perienced rapid growth owing to the accessibility of traffic data.At the second stage,i.e.,the communica-tion stage,communication and computation capabil-ity can be regarded as the identifying symbols for this stage,where the ability of collecting finer-grained in-sight into transportation and mobility reality improves dramatically with advances in vehicular networks,Big Data,and artificial intelligence.Specifically,as the pre-requisite for congestion control,in this paper,ex-isting congestion detection techniques are first elab-orated and classified.Then,a comprehensive survey of the recent advances for current congestion control strategies with a focus on traffic signal control,vehi-cle route guidance,and their combined techniques is provided.In this regard,the evolution of these strate-gies with continuous development of sensing,com-munication,and computation capability are also intro-duced.Finally,the paper concludes with several re-search challenges and trends to fully promote the in-tegration of advanced techniques for traffic congestion mitigation in transportation systems.

Fatality from Road Traffic Accident in Guinea: A Retrospective Descriptive Analysis

Objectives: Causes and risk factors that result in fatal road traffic accident have not been described at the national level in Guinea yet. The goal of this study is to explore the causes and risk factors related to fatal road traffic accident, identified most vulnerable road users, and inform the road traffic prevention policy in Guinea. Methods: We made a retrospective descriptive analysis based on national fatal road traffic accident data from the Department of Health Information at the Guinean Ministry of Health for year 2011. Results: In 2011, road traffic accident was responsible for an aggregate number of 1655 deaths with an overall death rate of 15.3 per 100,000 population. Male experienced more than twice the risk of death from road traffic accidents (21.9 deaths per 100,000 population) compared with female (9.0 deaths per 100,000 population). While taking the population as a whole, the highest death rate was found among the middle aged in 35 - 49 age group accounting for (29.7 deaths per 100,000 population), followed successively by young adults age group 25 - 34 years (24.6 deaths per 100,000 population), and the middle aged in 50 - 64 age group (22.9 deaths per 100,000 population). Principally, occupants, motorcyclists and pedestrians sustained considerable burden of deaths respectively (9.2;2.9;2.2 per 100,000 population). In re-gional setting, the highest death rate was found in Upper Guinea (19.5 per 100,000 population), followed by Forest Guinea (18.7 per 100,000 population) and Middle Guinea (16.8 per 100,000 population). A large proportion of male was killed as motorcyclist than female while high per-centage of female died as occupant than male for all age group. The regional distribution showed that when a remarkable number of occupant death were observed in Upper and Forest Guinea, more people died as pedestrian and pedal cyclist in Conakry. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that most of the deaths were among occupants, motorcyclists and pedestrians, and the productive workforce aged 25 - 49 years. It was found that majority of the deaths happened in Upper Guinea followed by Forest Guinea. Improvement of roads design, strict enforcement of road safety laws and raising the awareness of general public about the causes and risks factors of road traffic accident through various channels are highly required which will promote economic growth in the local communities and then help people escape the poverty trap.

Epidemiological Pattern of Injuries Resulting from Road Traffic Accidents in Khartoum, Sudan

Background: Traffic accidents are increasingly becoming a threat to public health and national development in many developing countries. Sudan isn’t an exception, the number of vehicles is rapidly increasing while the road’s widths remain as same as before, so many accidents took place, and serious losses and damages to both human beings and vehicles may occur. This study was aimed at identifying the epidemiological pattern of injuries and determinants that contribute to road traffic accidents (RTA) in Khartoum Teaching Hospital Sudan. Methodology: Hospital based descriptive study was conducted in Khartoum Teaching Hospital. 150 road traffic victims who attended the emergency room or were admitted to the hospital from February-May 2012 and fulfilled the inclusion criteria were included in the study. A pre-test standardized administered questionnaire was used for data collection. Results: Males were more affected (85%);laborers were the highest among the victims (43%). Sixty three of RTA causes were related to the drivers. Conclusion: Urgent intervention is needed through the involvement of many sectors and specialties. There is an urgent need to setup a database to collect, store and analyze information related to road traffic accidents. This will help the authorities to plan strategically for appropriate interventions across the country.

Improving hospital-based trauma care for road traffic injuries in Malawi

BACKGROUND: The mortality rate from road traffic injuries has increased in sub-Saharan Africa as the number of motor vehicles increase. This study examined the capacity of hospitals along Malawi's main north-south highway to provide emergency trauma care.METHODS: Structured interviews and checklists were used to evaluate the infrastructure, personnel, supplies, and equipment at all four of Malawi's central hospitals, ten district hospitals, and one mission hospital in 2014. Most of these facilities are along the main north-south highway that spans the country.RESULTS: Between July 2013 and March 2014, more than 9 200 road traffic injuries(RTIs) and 100 RTI deaths were recorded by the participating hospitals. All of the hospitals reported staff shortages, especially during nights and weekends. Few clinicians had completed formal training in emergency trauma management, and healthcare workers reported gaps in knowledge and skills, especially at district hospitals. Most central hospitals had access to the critical supplies and medications necessary for trauma care, but district hospitals lacked some of the supplies and equipment needed for diagnosis, treatment, and personal protection.CONCLUSION: The mortality and disability burden from road traffi c injuries in Malawi(and other low-income countries in sub-Saharan Africa) can be reduced by ensuring that every central and district hospital has a dedicated trauma unit with qualified staff who have completed primary trauma care courses and have access to the equipment necessary to save lives.

Increasing Road Traffic Throughput through Dynamic Traffic Accident Risk Mitigation

The introduction of vehicular ad-hoc networks (VANETs) leads to the possibility to re-evaluate many traditional functions and views of road traffic networks. The ability for vehicles and infrastructure to communicate and collaborate will enable many novel solutions for problems as diverse as collision avoidance and traffic management with the view of reducing traffic congestion, increasing the effectiveness of logistics systems etc. In this paper we introduce a novel framework that utilises VANET information to share information about risk factors among road occupants and infrastructure. We introduce the concept of risk limits as a means of traffic accident risk mitigation, whereby vehicles need to adjust their behaviour to maintain a given level of risk. We discuss determination of risk values and detail this process using the NSW traffic accident database. We show how the effects on risk of particular vehicular behaviours such as speed and headway can be calculated and use these results to modify vehicle behaviour in real time to maintain a predefined risk limit. Experiments are carried out using the Paramics Microsimulator. Our results show that it is possible to reduce the accident rate among vehicles while at the same time increasing road network throughput by exploiting the variation in risk between vehicles.

Traffic Organization Optimization of Urban Road Combined Intersections

With the development of the economy and the acceleration of urbanization, the number of vehicles in cities is increasing rapidly, which greatly increases the pressure on urban traffic. Solving traffic accidents and problems to keep smooth travel and safe travel has become a top priority in road construction. In this paper, how to optimize the traffic at the intersection of the urban road was discussed with the aim of reducing traffic accidents and problems to keep peoples’ smooth travel and safe travel.

Investigation of Present Situation of Urban Road Traffic in Nanchang City and Countermeasures

The present situation of urban road traffic in Nanchang City was surveyed systematically from the present situation of the road structure,characteristics of trafficvolume,residents' trips,etc.,then the existing problems were analyzed,and some countermeasures were put forward finally.

Appraisal of Urban Road Traffic Noise in tier-II City(Surat City),India

Urban road traffic noise pollution has always been identified as a severe problem that affects urban populants.In developing nation,road traffic noise pollution depends on the composition of heterogeneous traffic composition.These traffic compositions contain vehicles,which have different sizes,speeds variations,a different dimension of vehicles.Environmental noise measurements have been carried out during day-time and night-time in different locations of tier-II city of India.The noise levels have been continuously measured over 24 h periods using kimo DB 300 class-2 noise level meter.The data contained in this research paper represent 768 measurement hours.All the information has been used to investigate the time patterns of the noise levels under a wide range of different conditions and to study the relationships between noise levels and traffic in urban areas.Maximum LAeq was observed 73.3 dB(A)at B_(14) location and the minimum was recorded 65.7 dB(A)at C_(3) location,which was greater than the central pollution control board(CPCB)prescribed limits during night time.A major reason for the generation of road traffic noise is due to the equal composition of 2-wheeler and 4-wheeler on the arterial road and heavy vehicles were recorded during morning peak and evening peak even though they are prohibited during peak hours.

Order Exponential Evaluation Model for Road Traffic Safety in City Clusters

This study presents an order exponential model for estimating road traffic safety in city clusters.The proposed model introduces the traffic flow intrinsic properties and uses the characteristics and regular patterns of traffic development to identify road traffic safety levels in city clusters.Additionally,an evaluation index system of city cluster road traffic safety was constructed based on the spatial and temporal distribution.Then Order Exponential Evaluation Model(OEEM),a comprehensive model using order exponent function for road traffic safety evaluation,was put forward,which considers the main characteristics and the generation process of traffic accidents.The model effectively controlled the unsafe behavior of the traffic system.It could define the levels of city cluster road traffic safety and dynamically detect road safety risk.The proposed model was verified with statistical data from three Chinese city clusters by comparing the common model for road traffic safety with an ideal model.The results indicate that the order exponent approach undertaken in this study can be extended and applied to other research topics and fields.

Atmospheric Pollution due to Road Traffic Case of the Greater Casablanca Region

In the Greater Casablanca, road transport is the second largest emissions source of gaseous pollutants and particles after the industry [ 1 ]. The emitters are mobile and include different categories of vehicles in circulation, in the road network of the region [2]. Air emissions from road transport considered in this study are the exhaust emissions from combustion of fuel during vehicle movement. This is mainly SO2 （sulfur dioxide）, NOx （nitrogen oxides）, CO （carbon monoxide）, CO2 （carbon dioxide）, SP （suspended particulate） [3], VOC （volatile organic compounds）, benzene, lead Pb and cadmium. These emissions depend mainly on the technology of the vehicle （type, fuel, engine size, and age）, the vehicle speed, the engine temperature and ambient temperature [4].