The Sydney Morning Herald published a hard hitting article titled 'Traffic noise: It sounds 'like gunshots ... it wakes up dogs, it wakes up babies'', which delved into the frightening severity of noise pollution in Sydney.
Below is an excerpt from the article.
Overlooking Sydney’s peak hour traffic, environmental engineer Meead Saberi’s acoustic analyzer lit up in hot orange warning he’d damage his hearing if he were to linger long near the city apartments and hotels along the Western Distributor.
The 85 decibels (dB) recorded on Dr Saberi’s noise-measuring phone app one Friday morning at the end of February, though, were more muted than the nearly 100dBs that his team at the University of NSW recorded near Sydney’s busiest highways two years ago as part of a major project analysing the city’s liveability.
Above: Dr Meead Saberi at the corner of King and Sussex streets near the Western Distributor. He measured the sound there at 85dB. Previous work showed it often peaked near 100dB.
Road noise levels in Sydney, CBD during morning peak period
In the same month, the French government announced plans to introduce “sound radars” in seven cities and towns to capture and fine drivers of excessively noisy vehicles, including the top offenders: motorbikes and scooters.
Dr Saberi, the leader of the UNSW’s CityX Lab, has called for more data and research to assess whether Sydney needed similar technology.
His research found the noisiest spots in Sydney were along the Western Distributor (A4) and Cahill Expressway (M1). The city entrance to the Harbour Bridge was the worst, near 100dB.
A spokesperson for the NSW Environment Protection Authority said it had also commissioned an expert study on the “current state of play” relating to the scientific understanding of the impacts of road noise.
The EPA won’t be collecting fresh data, or standing by roadways as Dr Saberi’s team did. But the research could inform a review of the 2011 Road Noise Policy which manages traffic noise on new and redeveloped roads. Since it was introduced, the number of registered passenger vehicles on NSW roads has risen 21 per cent to 5.8 million.
The sound of motorbikes, scooters and hotted-up vehicles doesn’t only disturb sleep and make us cranky. The World Health Organisation estimated that in Europe noise pollution caused the loss of 1.68 million years of healthy lives from heart disease, cognitive impairment in children and other factors.
Exposure to sound less than 70dB is considered safe for extended periods, but anything greater than 85dB is potentially hazardous depending on pressure and duration, say Australian experts. A chat with a friend is about 60dB. A souped-up car, motorbike or scooter can register over 100dB and custom car stereo can blast 140dB.
It is not just the French who are fed up with noisy vehicles. The governor of New York introduced legislation late last year to crack down on drag racing, and increase fines for use of illegally modified motorcycle mufflers and exhaust systems.
New York City councillor Justin Brannan said people would call police thinking they had heard gunshots. “It was actually one of these illegally modified cars,” he told local radio.
Those same “gunshot” noises have ricocheted through Sydney’s Bayside community, said local activist Heidi Douglas who has been campaigning for a “peaceful Bayside” for nearly two years.
Illegal aftermarket modifications to vehicles, called crackle tuning, created loud backfiring noise.
“It is like gunshots. It reverberates around all the apartments, it wakes up dogs, it wakes up babies, it wakes up shift workers. It impacts businesses, including the local hotel where pilots sleep,” said Ms Douglas.
Elected to Bayside Council in early December on a platform of bringing more peace and quiet to the southern Sydney area, Ms Douglas’ first motions - which passed - were to ask council to do more to address hooning. She also wanted to investigate the introduction of special noise cameras and sensors similar to those introduced in London. In Kensington and Chelsea, when the noise of a vehicle exceeds 74dB, a sensor triggers cameras to film the offending vehicle.
“I’m just asking the council to investigate what is a proven solution,” Cr Douglas said.
The technology exists in NSW but it has been used infrequently. In Mount Ousley, a noise camera - installed in 2007 to spot heavy vehicles with noisy brakes - had yet to issue a single fine by 2019, local newspaper the Illawarra-Mercury reported.
Bayside is also investigating whether the legislation exists to fine motorists spotted by these cameras.
Although the police had several campaigns to stop hooning and antisocial driving, Ms Douglas said she wasn’t advocating increased policing as the only solution. “It’s dependent on staffing and manpower. Something like a noise camera is a permanent automatic solution that doesn’t require police on the ground.”
A report by the federal Department of Health in 2018 estimated that more than 70 per cent of environmental noise, or unwanted sound, in Australia was due to road traffic. Australia lacked enough current data, it found, and responsibility for noise pollution was spread across many departments.
The government’s report cited a study of road traffic noise in five of Australia’s capital cities. It found Sydneysiders were exposed to more noise at higher than recommended levels than in other cities.
Dr Saberi said Sydney needed a comprehensive network of sensors including those to monitor temperature and air quality, check urban noise levels, and count how many pedestrians and cyclists were using public spaces.
But the first need was to monitor and see what was going on, said Dr Saberi, an associate professor at the University of NSW. “We don’t know what problem we have before measuring things.”
A legacy of car dominated urban planning, where insufficient space had been allocated to walking and cycling, had caused issues like traffic noise and slowed uptake of walking and cycling, he said.
Funded by Sydney City Council, the UNSW’s CityX Lab research into the city’s liveability found a range of factors affected the amount of noise generated by traffic, including the speed and volume of traffic, the number of trees and shrubs nearby, and building heights and surfaces.
Sydney city lord mayor Clover Moore said investing in active transport options that make the city more accessible, dynamic, safe and sustainable had been the council’s priority since 2004.
“The benefits include calmer, quieter streets, resulting in heightened levels of amenity and enhanced physical and emotional wellbeing,” she said.