Photo credit: Roy Reyna
by Arline L. Bronzaft, Ph.D., Board of Directors, GrowNYC, Co-founder, The Quiet Coalition, and Honorary Chair, Quiet American Skies
According to Ole Siever’s article in amNY, “New York’s subways are loud, and they’re not getting any quieter.” To come to this conclusion, Siever’s colleagues measured the noise peaks of arriving and departing trains at a number of subway stations. They found that at the popular station Union Square, incoming trains ranged from 96 to 107 A-weighted decibels (dBA). Exposure to 100 dBA for more than 15 minutes a day can result in hearing loss, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health. While no one should be exposed to the high levels of sound noted above for any period of time, these levels are especially hazardous to subway workers. However, we do learn that subway workers wear hearing protection.
New Yorkers are exposed to many loud sounds on a daily basis, and this exposure can affect our health and well-being in the long run. New Yorkers might consider wearing hearing protection, and I know of some who already do. Another suggestion is to avoid loud places.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority has been working to reduce noise since 1974, according to the article. The MTA has also been releasing reports on its programs since 2015. These reports inform readers that millions of dollars are spent to reduce noise in the transit system. Lubricators have been used to tone down the noisy curves at Union Square. Siever questioned if the transit agency would spend millions of dollars in the future to lessen noise if a reduced budget forced them to focus on operational costs.
The article ends with a suggestion from hearing expert Dr. Sujana Chandrasekhar, who said that subway riders should “just chuck your fingers into your ear for that moment, and that’s actually enough.” The article did not address the elevated train noise to which many residents are exposed, especially those living near curves. This includes people in Coney Island who have complained about train noise for years. I doubt that sticking a finger into one’s ears would lessen their suffering.
When I conducted my study on the effects of nearby elevated train noise on children’s classroom learning in a school adjacent to train tracks, putting fingers in one’s ears every four and half minutes as trains passed was not suggested. After learning that the children were suffering from learning deficits, it was suggested that the transit agency lessen the noise on the tracks adjacent to the school. The Board of Education was asked to put acoustic tiles in classroom ceilings. After both abatements were in place, the children’s reading scores improved.
And, transit noise can potentially lead to transit breakdowns (as the MTA knows), so it needs to put greater effort into abating noise.Spending on prevention saves spending on repairs. We also cannot ignore the health problems of people who live near noisy trains and their accompanying medical costs.
