Assessing the Effect of the King Street Transit Pilot on Residential Traffic Noise Exposure

The noise in urban environments continues to grow as more of the world's population transitions to cities. Vehicular noise is one of the main factors of noise pollution in cities. Toronto recently introduced a Transit Priority Corridor which reduced the total traffic flow along one major road. High levels of noise can have serious health impacts on city residents who work and live in dense urban cores. This study aims to model the noise on the façades of buildings in the City of Toronto. Two models were created using traffic flow data modelled from measured vehicle counts. SoundPlan a noise modelling software, was used to create façade level noise maps and to estimate the residential exposure. In the study area surrounding King Street, over 90% of the population in the study area was found to be exposed to levels described by the World Health Organization as dangerous. In the study area, 91.66% of the population based on the modelled results was exposed to levels above 45 db(A) before the pilot and 92.45% were exposed after the pilot. Noise disturbance at this level is associated with many long-term health impacts that can be mitigated by reducing source noise. Transit efficiency management systems like the King Street Pilot program can be used to reduce source noise although programs along only one stretch or road are unlikely to significantly reduce noise levels