Comparison between road and rail noise cost per transported ton of cargo

The social cost of noise is normally used when performing cost-benefit analysis while planning infrastructure projects or noise mitigation measures. In this study it is used together with the official noise prediction methods to estimate the acoustic and monetary impact of transporting 1 ton of cargo through two separate transportation corridors from Gothenburg to Stockholm in Sweden, one via railway and the other via truck transport. The noise cost per transported ton is approximately twice as high for rail transport due to higher noise emissions per ton and more exposed dwellings close to the railway

Understanding Health Workers' Job Preferences to Improve Rural Retention in Timor-Leste: Findings from a Discrete Choice Experiment

Background Timor-Leste built its health workforce up from extremely low levels after its war of independence, with the assistance of Cuban training, but faces challenges as the first cohorts of doctors will shortly be freed from their contracts with government. Retaining doctors, nurses and midwives in remote areas requires a good understanding of health worker preferences. Methods The article reports on a discrete choice experiment (DCE) carried out amongst 441 health workers, including 173 doctors, 150 nurses and 118 midwives. Qualitative methods were conducted during the design phase. The attributes which emerged were wages, skills upgrading/specialisation, location, working conditions, transportation and housing. Findings One of the main findings of the study is the relative lack of importance of wages for doctors, which could be linked to high intrinsic motivation, perceptions of having an already highly paid job (relative to local conditions), and/or being in a relatively early stage of their career for most respondents. Professional development provides the highest satisfaction with jobs, followed by the working conditions. Doctors with less experience, males and the unmarried are more flexible about location. For nurses and midwives, skill upgrading emerged as the most cost effective method. Conclusions The study is the first of its kind conducted in Timor-Leste. It provides policy-relevant information to balance financial and non-financial incentives for different cadres and profiles of staff. It also augments a thin literature on the preferences of working doctors (as opposed to medical students) in low and middle income countries and provides insights into the ability to instil motivation to work in rural areas, which may be influenced by rural recruitment and Cuban-style training, with its emphasis on community service.Our Research Report for 2000-2002 reflects an outstanding level of achievement throughout the institution and demonstrates once again our high level of commitment to strategic and applied research particularly in areas that enhance the quality of life.Funding: The authors thank the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and the European Commission for their financial support.sch_iih11pub4608pub1

Measurements and calculations of noise and vibration from railway and road traffic within the TVANE project

The project "Effects of noise and vibrations from train and road traffic - train bonus, differences and combination effects between train and road traffic" (TVANE) started 2006 and will be finished during the beginning of 2011. The basic research method is a questionnaire survey in residential areas exposed to noise and vibrations from railway traffic and noise from road traffic. Well controlled laboratory studies were also performed. This report documents the measurements and calculations of noise and vibration were performed within the TVANE project. These data have then been used together with the questionnaire survey data to evaluate the responses such as annoyance and sleep disturbance. In total more than 30 vibration and noise measurements were performed, and the noise level was calculated in approximately 1 800 receiver points. The most important finding apart from describing the calculations and measurement methods used, is that it is not possible to predict the vibrations based only on railway and ground parameters, since the details of the construction of the exposed building will have a strong influence. Other TVANE reports and articles from conference proceedings can be downloaded from the project website: http://www.tvane.se and from the webbpage of the department of Occupational and Environmetal Medicine at the University of Gothenburg: http://www.amm.s

Elmotorvagn Coradia Duplex - Littera X40 : indata till beräkningsmodellerna NMT96 och Nord 2000

Resultaten från bullermätningarna visar att den aktuella motorvagnstypen X40 har lägre bulleremission än befintliga tågtyper som t.ex. snabbtåget X2. I diagrammen 1 och 2 redovisas X2-tågets predikterade ljudnivåer i jämförelse med mätresultaten från X40-passager. Erhållna data har normaliserats enligt beräkningsmodellerna NMT96 och Nord 2000 och ingångsdata för beräkningar av bullerimmission från elmotorvagn X40 redovisas i tabeller 6 och 7 i avsnitt 6 \u94Indata beräkningsmodeller\u94

Elmotorvagn Coradia Duplex - Littera X40 : indata till beräkningsmodellerna NMT96 och Nord 2000

Resultaten från bullermätningarna visar att den aktuella motorvagnstypen X40 har lägre bulleremission än befintliga tågtyper som t.ex. snabbtåget X2. I diagrammen 1 och 2 redovisas X2-tågets predikterade ljudnivåer i jämförelse med mätresultaten från X40-passager. Erhållna data har normaliserats enligt beräkningsmodellerna NMT96 och Nord 2000 och ingångsdata för beräkningar av bullerimmission från elmotorvagn X40 redovisas i tabeller 6 och 7 i avsnitt 6 "Indata beräkningsmodeller".Nya indata till bullerberäkningsmodeller för Coradia Duplex X40 motorvagna

Input data for noise calculation methods on the Swedish EMU X60

This report contains measurements on noise emission from the Swedish multiple unit denoted X60. The meaurements have been analyzed and used to prepare input data for the Nordic noise calculation methods for railway traffic noise NMT96 and Nord2000. The result shows that in a typical case the A-weighted noise emission per meter train is approximately 6 dB lower for X60 compared to the high speed train X2. Measurements were also carried out for the multiple unit X40, but unfortunately the spread was too large and the number of data points to small to create valid input data for the methods. More extensive research is needed, and until better data is available it is recommended to use X2 input data as an approximation of X40 noise emission.Indata till beräkningsmetod för buller från nya tågtyper (X40 och X60

Comparison between Road and Rail Noise Cost per Transported Ton of Cargo

International audienceThe social cost of noise is normally used when performing cost-benefit analysis while planning infrastructure projects or noise mitigation measures. In this study it is used together with the official noise prediction methods to estimate the acoustic and monetary impact of transporting 1 ton of cargo through two separate transportation corridors from Gothenburg to Stockholm in Sweden, one via railway and the other via truck transport. The noise cost per transported ton is approximately twice as high for rail transport due to higher noise emissions per ton and more exposed dwellings close to the railway

Input data for noise calculation methods on the Swedish EMU X60

This report contains measurements on noise emission from the Swedish multiple unit denoted X60. The meaurements have been analyzed and used to prepare input data for the Nordic noise calculation methods for railway traffic noise NMT96 and Nord2000. The result shows that in a typical case the A-weighted noise emission per meter train is approximately 6 dB lower for X60 compared to the high speed train X2. Measurements were also carried out for the multiple unit X40, but unfortunately the spread was too large and the number of data points to small to create valid input data for the methods. More extensive research is needed, and until better data is available it is recommended to use X2 input data as an approximation of X40 noise emission

A system for railway noise sleep disturbance trials

In Sweden a new research project aimed at studying noise and vibration from railway traffic has been started. An important part of the project is controlled laboratory experiments where subjects are exposed to noise and vibration when sleeping. The first set of experiments (using only noise) have already started, and the vibration excitation is under construction. Here the focus is on the construction of the laboratory and the design of the experiments, but some preliminary results are also presented. The sound system consists of roof mounted speakers for low frequencies, and two speaker cabinets for the high frequency part. Train passages recorded in the field on the façade of a building are filtered to account for façade insulation and presented to the subjects. This enables many scenarios to be studied with the same setup by selecting the individual sounds and changing the parameters of the filter. The vibration excitation system under construction will be based on electro-dynamical shakers which will interact with the bed to force it to vibrate

Combined effects of noise and vibration from train and road traffic

The research project addresses three aims. The first is whether a \u93train bonus\u94 can be expected, i.e. whether noise from railway traffic is perceived as less annoying than road traffic noise and the same level. The second aim is to investigate the connection between disturbance and exposure to simultaneous noise and vibration from train traffic. The third issue is to investigate concurrent effects from simultaneous exposure to noise from train and road traffic