Edinburgh, Scotland

EURONOISE 2009
October 26-28

An investigation of the speech intelligibility on board metros

Massimiliano Masullo b Luigi Maffei Natalia Alekseeva Umberto Palmieri Built Environment Control Laboratory, Second University of Naples, Aversa (CE), 81031, Italy
a

ABSTRACT
The metro is the main mass transportation system used by the European citizens of the urban and extra-urban areas for their rides from and toward downtown. Because of the urban sprawl, since the 1990s, many communities have increased their average commuting time and today a copious part of the day time (averagely more than one hour) is spent on board metro. Several acoustic measurements have been performed inside metros of European and not European cities (Naples, Rome, Milan, Turin, Paris, Berlin and New York). The results have demonstrated that, often, very high noise levels are noticed inside the train during the rides. These levels cause in the riders: stress effects, acoustical discomfort and, moreover, constraints for speech communication. In this paper an investigation about the influence of noise on speech intelligibility inside the metros for different ride conditions (running in straight and in curve, running in gallery or outdoors) is presented. The investigation was carried out by means of laboratory tests mixing the noise with words of Italian language for different S/N ratios. The comparison of the test results for the different metros are discussed.

1. INTRODUCTION
Two tendencies are observed in the spatial development of major cities in Europe: (a) the concentration on regional and interregional levels with the creation of mega city regions and (b) the turning from mono-centric urban areas into complex polycentric urban conurbations. In European Union, in 2005, 358.9 million people lived in urban areas1. The urban population is expected to reach 390.8 million people in the 2030; this will represent 79.8% of the total population in Europe's 27 Member States. Such noticeable demographic concentration raised the question of local mobility. The intensive use of the private transportation has led to a congestion of the main roads and urban spaces, causing the increase of the atmospheric and acoustic pollution. This critical situation has engendered a strong impulse of the public transportation policy toward the realization of new public infrastructures, like metros, light rail systems (LRT) or similar. In Europe, in 2004, there were 36 metro networks (138 metro lines) functioning and new metro lines were in construction or in project in 20 towns2. Worldwide studies report a general preference toward this type of means. In EU3 it observes that the growth trend for metros over the 1995-2004 is comparable with the growth trend for private vehicles and it is higher than for bus and coach and for railway transport. In Italy the metro is the only transport system which shows the increase of passengers satisfaction comparing with other public mobility systems4. Despite the great number of passengers involved
a

Email address: massimiliano.masullo@unina2.it Email address: luigi.maffei@unina2.it

and the growing tendency of utilization of this transport, its mass character and long time staying in trains, the conditions of the acoustical comfort on board are often unsatisfactory and even low-grade5, 6. Today no regulations are defined about the acoustic comfort and its relation with secondary activities (speech intelligibility, reading etc.) on board. This entails the constructors to fix their own maximum internal sound levels of project. (ALSTOM-Bombardier: 67-68 dB(A), SIEMENS 64 dB(A)). In this paper results of acoustic measurements carried out on board passenger wagons of different metro lines (Naples, Rome, Milan, Turin, Paris, Berlin and New York) and test of the noise influence on speech intelligibility inside the metros are presented.

2. OBJECTIVE SURVEY
The objective survey was performed on 17 metro lines, with different constructive characteristics, tracks, speed, etc. The lines investigated were: Milan (Line M1, Line M2, Line M3), Naples (Line M1, Line M2), Rome (Line MA, Line MB), Turin (VAL), Berlin (Line S3, Line U2), New York (Line M1, Line M4, Line MQ), Paris (Line M1, Line M6, Line M7, Line M12). The lines are supplied mainly with iron wheels except Turin VAL and Paris M1 and M6 which use rubber wheels. The average speed of trains during the travel is from 25 to 39 km/h. For each metro line, binaural audio signal recordings were carried out in a motor coach (as far as possible in the same passengers position) by headphones and a portable digital recorder. The major part of recordings was performed on the entire route for at least of 7 minutes of travel time (Paris M1). Surrounding conditions were considered during the travels (tunnel entrance/exit, acceleration/deceleration, breaking, windows open/closed, etc.). The left and right levels of the headphone were averaged. The overall sound equivalent levels for each metro line (Fig. 1) show that the levels range between 65.1 dB(A) (Berlin S3) to 86,0 dB(A) (New York City M1). The level of 80 dB(A) are well exceeded by all New York metro lines, Rome MB and Milan M3, characterizing high exposure conditions on board. The quietest level was observed in Berlin S3, which route lies in open air and long stop times were detected.
90

86,0 85 82,6 81,3 80,2 80 78,0 79,2 80,1 83,0

85,4

Leq (dBA)

75,8 75 73,3 71,9 70 72,3

75,3 73,9

75,3

65,1 65

60

ROME MA

ROME MB

MILAN M1

MILAN M2

NAPLES M1

NAPLES M2

PARIS M12

BERLIN U2

BERLIN S3

MILAN M3

NYC M1

PARIS M1

PARIS M6

PARIS M7

NYC M4

NYC MQ

Figure 1: Equivalent sound levels of the investigated metros.

Each signal was analyzed in one third octave bands (Fig.2). All curves show similar slope in the middle frequencies (- 4,1 dB each frequency doubling) and concentration of energy in low frequency ranges, especially for New York metros (M1, M4 and MQ).

TURIN VAL

100

BERLIN S3 BERLIN U2
90

MILAN M1 MILAN M2 MILAN M3

80

NAPLES M1 NAPLES M2 NYC M1

70
Levels (dB)

NYC M4 NYC MQ PARIS M1

60

PARIS M6 PARIS M7 PARIS M12

50

ROME MA ROME MB TURIN VAL

40

MEAN DEV.ST.+
30
10000 12500 16000 1000 1200 1600 2000 2500 3150 4000 5000 6300 8000 100 125 160 200 250 315 400 500 630 31,5 800 20 25 40 50 63 80

DEV.ST.-

Frequencies (Hz)

Figure 2: One third octave bands levels of all the metro lines, mean values (yellow dots) and standard deviation range (grey area).

Open-air and tunnel sections were identified for every metro line and then divided in curves and straight sub-sections. Corresponding audio events were extracted from total recordings and analyzed to obtain partial sound levels. In table 1 the values of the average sound levels Leq,A of each sub-section (TC: Tunnel Curve, OAC: Open-Air Curve, TS: Tunnel Straight and OAS: Open-Air Straight) and for the doors closure (DC) condition are reported.
Table 1: Overall sound equivalent levels on board City Line S3 U2 M1 M2 M3 M1 M2 M1 M4 MQ M1 M6 M7 M12 MA MB VAL From Hackescher Ernst Reuter Bisceglie Abbiategrasso Maciachini Dante Gianturco Chambers St. Brooklyn Hall 57th Saint Paul Pasteur Place ditalie Concorde Anagnina Laurentina Porta Nuova To Zoologischer Alexanderplatz Sesto Marelli Cascinagobba San Donato Piscinola Pozzuoli 59th 14th Canal St. Chtelet Place dItalie Chtelet Pasteur Battistini Rebibbia Fermi All dB(A) 65,1 75,3 79,2 80,1 85,4 80,2 78,0 86,0 82,6 81,3 71,9 72,3 73,3 75,8 73,9 83,0 75,3 TC dB(A) 77,1 78,6 83,8 91,4 86,1 85,7 83,6 72,7 75,7 87,8 71,7 TS dB(A) 75,7 80,1 75,2 84,5 78,8 75,5 85,6 78,4 82,7 71,6 73,6 74,1 77,2 70,6 81,6 74,8 OAC dB(A) 65,7 70,9 83,4 68,8 78,6 OAS dB(A) 67,0 72,4 76,5 78,8 68,4 71,8 DC dB(A) 63,7 74,9 83,2 76,1 77,5 84,0 77,4 90,3 88,7 76,4 77,9 77,5 75,0 74,2 74,5 85,0 77,0

Berlin

Milan

Naples New York City

Paris

Rome Turin

3. SUBJECTIVE TEST
The analysis of speech intelligibility in noise was fulfilled, in this preliminary study, for 11 of the 17 metro lines by means of laboratory subjective tests. The test was based on perspicuous and complete sense disyllabic Italian words selected from the lists of Bocca7. These lists of 295 words and 50 logotomes are balanced by difficulty and phonetic composition. An example of the list used is presented in the table 2.
Table 2: Example of Italian word lists used for subjective testing LIST N 1 A cielo era tordo alpi freno chiuso sarti radio bionda ali B nudo quindi spinta giunco sete venti lei seno marzo sua C rete campi prova tesa lunga bravi urli lire versi lega D ira tarma chiesa unto niente zia gelo scopa ponte neo E fiele orlo cento piedi tempo strada mai calda onde tela

Afterwards the recordings of four speakers, with different age (25 - 45) to represent different voice characteristics (young and mature voice), were performed in the anechoic chamber of the Laboratory of the Second University of Naples (1 m distance talker-to-listener). Lists of 50 words composed by 5 sub-lists of 10 disyllabic words were assigned to the speakers. The recordings were performed with the same equipment used for the measurements on board metros. In this basic condition (+0 dB) the speakers average levels, in the octave band between 250 and 8000 Hz, were within the range of 59.0 - 64.5 dB. For the intelligibility test were chosen twenty-eight subjects, 92% of which are 20-40 years old. Before the beginning of the test, listeners were trained to the situation with vision of the internal of metros and listening of sound tracks examples. Then they were given to recognize and write down random sequences of word lists mixed with the TS sections soundtracks, extracted from the different metro recordings. The metro noise was held at the same registration level while the word lists were replayed with four amplitude degrees: +0 dB (basic condition), +6 dB, +12 dB, +18 dB. These levels correspond to the mean voice levels (250-8000 Hz) as indicated in ANSI Standard S3.5-1997 (Table 3)8.
Table 3: Sound levels of speakers versus ANSI Standard S3.5-1997 for different amplitude degree Speakers name Giuseppe Lia Umberto Valentina Mean levels of speakers ANSI Standard S3.5-1997 Basic (+0dB) 63,2 dB 62,1 dB 64,5 dB 59,1 dB 62,2 dB Normal 62,4 dB (+6dB) 69,2 dB 68,1 dB 70,5 dB 65,1 dB 68,2 dB Raised 68,3 dB (+12dB) 75,2 dB 74,1 dB 76,5 dB 71,1 dB 74,2 dB Loud 74,8 dB (+18dB) 81,2 dB 80,1 dB 82,5 dB 77,1 dB 80,2 dB Shout 82,3 dB

To analyze the speech intelligibility, objective and subjective data were considered in the octave band speech spectra (250-8000 Hz).

In the table 4 the values of the average sound levels Leq (250-8000) of the entire metro routes and of their subsections are reported.
Table 4: Sound equivalent levels of the metros noise in the octave bands 250-8000 Hz. City Berlin Milan Naples NYC Line S3 U2 M1 M2 M3 M1 M2 M1 M4 MQ M1 M6 M7 M12 MA MB VAL From Hackescher Ernst Reuter Bisceglie Abbiategrasso Maciachini Dante Gianturco Chambers St. Brooklyn Hall 57th Saint Paul Pasteur Place ditalie Concorde Anagnina Laurentina Porta Nuova To Zoologischer Alexanderplatz Sesto Marelli Cascinagobba San Donato Piscinola Pozzuoli 59th 14th Canal St. Chtelet Place ditalie Chtelet Pasteur Battistini Rebibbia Fermi Overall dB 69,5 81,4 83,7 83,3 90,2 84,0 84,6 89,4 86,4 86,3 75,9 74,9 77,7 79,8 78,1 86,5 78,1 TC dB 83,8 85,4 89,4 96,9 93,0 91,3 89,9 87,1 76,9 82,8 95,2 75,5 TS dB 81,7 85,8 81,1 95,2 83,7 83,5 89,7 84.4 87,8 75,6 75,1 79,0 86,0 80,2 90,0 80.1 OAC dB 70,1 76,7 88,5 72,8 84,3 OAS dB 72,0 77,7 81,9 83,3 70,7 78,7 DC dB 58,0 77,7 83,7 76,9 81,7 86,5 84,2 78,1 81,3 70,4 81,4 81,5 76,3 78,5 76,0 87,7 75,8

PARIS

ROME TURIN

The speech intelligibility was quantified as the percentage of disyllabic words correctly understood relative to SNR. The results of subjective intelligibility tests are reported in Fig.3.
100
R value = 0,85957

90
Percentage of words correctly understood

80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0

-35

-30

-25

-20

-15

-10

-5

0
SNR, dB

10

Figure 3: Subjective intelligibility tests results for all the metro lines and speakers. Dots: single answers; red curve: Gompertz fitting function; brown: bounds of the confidence interval of 95%.

4. ANALYSIS
From the subjective test it was found out that to have normally acceptable intelligibility (i.e. percentage of words correctly understood greater than 75%) it is necessary to guarantee a SNR value greater than -3 dB. Moreover, this ratio permits to achieve about 98% of sentences understood. Considering the noise levels inside investigated metros, this SNR can be respected only with an amplitude degree of speakers voices increased of 12 or more dB (loud or shout condition) respect to the basic level (Fig.4).

100 BASIC (+0 dB) 90 (+6 dB) (+12 dB) (+18 dB) 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 -35,00

Percentage of words correctly understood

80

-30,00

-25,00

-20,00

-15,00 SNR (dB)

-10,00

-5,00

0,00

5,00

10,00

Figure 4: Percentage of disyllabic words correctly identified by listeners for different amplitude degree.

Voice levels of 62.4 dB (normal voice level8) can be considered as comfortable condition in terms of vocal effort. In this situation and with a SNR of -3 dB, to guarantee an acceptable percentage of speech comprehension, the noise levels inside metros should not exceed 65.4 dB. As reported in Table 4, no-one of metros satisfy this requirement in operation condition. Only considering at least a loud vocal effort (74.3 dB) the corresponding noise level of 77.3 dB is reached for less than 20% of metros while only Paris M7 and Turin VAL fulfill this requirement during tunnel curve (TC) sections.

5. CONCLUSIONS
The acoustical conditions on board of metros are often unsatisfactory and can cause annoyance on the normal conversations of passengers, requiring strenuous additional vocal efforts. The results of acoustical measurements performed on board passenger wagons of different metro lines and the analysis of subjective testing of the noise influence on speech intelligibility have shown that with loud voice condition of the passengers less than the 20% of the investigated metros have acceptable noise levels for intelligibility onboard.

REFERENCES
1. All EC, DG Energy and Transport, Unit A.1, The Future of Transport Focus Groups Report, 20 February 2009.

2. Light Rail and Metro Systems in Europe, Current market, perspectives and research implication, ERRAC European Rail Research Advisory Council, 2004. 3. MVV Consulting, Report on urban transport in Europe for the European Commission, Preparation of a green paper on urban transport: report on urban transport in Europe, 2007. 4. La domanda di mobilit degli individui, Rapporto congiunturale di fine anno, anno 2007, ISFORT Istituto Superiore di Formazione e Ricerca per i Trasporti, 28 marzo, 2008. 5. R.R.M. Gershon, R. Neitzel, M.A. Barrera, and M. Akram, Pilot Survey of Subway and Bus Stop Noise Levels, Journal of Urban Health: Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine, 2006. 6. L. De Gregorio, L. Maffei, M. Masullo, Esposizione dei passeggeri a rumore: Il caso della linea metropolitana di Napoli, 34 Convegno Nazionale dell'Associazione Italiana di Acustica AIA, Firenze 13-15 giugno 2007. 7. G. Moretto, Manuale di audiologia, Libreria Editrice universitaria Levrotto & Bella, Turin 1960. 8. ANSI (1997). American National Standard Methods for the Calculation of the Speech Intelligibility Index. (ANSI S3.5-1997) (Revision of ANSI S3.5-1969). New York: American National Standard Institute.