An assessment of noise exposure along the High Line, New York City

The High Line is an elevated public park in New York City, transformed from an unused freight rail line. Pedestrians walking through Manhattan's West Side can walk either on the High Line or on a sidewalk below. It is hypothesized that pedestrian exposure to environmental noise on the High Line will be reduced due to the greater segregation of road traffic and pedestrians. In order to test this hypothesis two types of noise measurements were taken: fixed spot measurements and measurements in transit. Fixed noise measurements are standard for environmental noise assessments and offer a reliable representation of the noise level at each measurement location. Measurements in transit provide high spatial resolution and, in this case, may offer a more appropriate representation of the noise a pedestrian is exposed to in the urban environment. Measurements were analyzed to investigate if pedestrians using the High Line would have a lower exposure to those using the sidewalk. Results show statistically significant differences between noise exposure levels. This paper also discusses the potential for using measurements in transit in place of fixed spot measurements for the assessment of environmental noise exposure in urban environments.