Instrumentation and automatic evaluation of event indicators alongside railway lines: a first attempt to comply with article 90 of the French mobility legislation on transport

Abstract

According to the Article 90 of the French Mobility Orientation Law (LOM) No. 2019-1428 (December 24, 2019), the Testing and Measurement Laboratory (LEM) of the Régie Autonome Des Transports Parisiens (RATP) 1 has been at the forefront in determining and evaluating indicators of annoyance due to event-related noise from railway transport infrastructure. Six measurement points located near tramway, metro, and suburban trains transport infrastructures were equipped with specific instrumentation allowing for measuring and automatically detecting railway and non-railway sound events (road traffic, alert sirens, and other sound activities), this multiplicity of noise sources necessitated a comprehensive approach to data collection and analysis, ensuring accurate assessment of the impact of railway transport infrastructure on surrounding area. Measurements were carried out continuously for 15 days. A post-processing system was also developed to analyze over a dozen noise indicators for each category of sound events. This article presents the technical solutions developed and deployed by the laboratory in a few months to address the regulatory challenges posed by the experimental phase of Article 90 of the LOM law.