Effect of Traffic Noise and Relaxations Sounds on Pedestrian Walking Speed

Abstract

Exposure to noise in everyday urban life is considered to be an environmental stressor. A specific outcome of reactions to environmental stress is a fast pace of life that also includes a faster pedestrian walking speed. The present study examined the effect of listening to annoying acoustical stimuli (traffic noise) compared with relaxation sounds (forest birdsong) on walking speed in a real outdoor urban environment. The participants (N = 83) walked along an urban route of 1.8 km. They listened to either traffic noise or forest birdsong, or they walked without listening to any acoustical stimuli in the control condition. The results showed that participants listening to traffic noise walked significantly faster on the route than both the participants listening to forest birdsong sounds and the participants in the control condition. Participants who listened to forest birdsong walked slightly slower than those under control conditions; however, this difference was not significant. Analysis of the walk experience showed that participants who listened to forest birdsong during the walk liked the route more than those who listened to traffic sounds. The study demonstrated that exposure to traffic noise led to an immediate increase in walking speed. It was also shown that exposure to noise may influence participants’ perception of an environment. The same environment may be more liked in the absence of noise or in the presence of relaxation sounds. The study also documented the positive effect of listening to various kinds of relaxation sounds while walking in an outdoor environment with traffic noise.

Effect of birdsongs and traffic noise on pedestrian walking speed during different seasons

“…The current study continues the previous investigation (Franěk et al, 2018) by using an identical methodology but in different locations and in two diverse seasons. While the previous experiment was conducted in a relatively calm area with a greater amount of greenery, in the current study, the participants were asked to walk along a route that contained areas near both a busy road and a calm alley to test, whether the observed associations between sounds and walking behavior would also occur in a different environment.…”

“…The participants tended to walk statistically significantly faster in areas without greenery and with more traffic and higher perceived noise than in sections with greenery and less traffic and perceived noise. Our previous study (Franěk et al, 2018) found that listening to a soundtrack with traffic noise while walking on an urban route increased the average walking speed. Conversely, listening to a soundtrack with natural sounds (birdsongs) decreased the walking speed in contrast to the control condition, but this difference was not significant.…”

“…Specifically, the question we sought to answer was whether listening to birdsongs that are commonly associated with spring and summer had similar effects in May and November. In the previous study (Franěk et al, 2018), the walking route was located in green areas with a relatively small amount of traffic. The first part of the route was a street with driving cars located along a small park or a meadow with threes; the second part was a dense oak alley that led out into the street with traffic.…”

“…In a previous study (Franěk et al, 2018), participants were asked to walk along an urban route while listening to soundtracks with intense crowded city traffic noise (noise from motorized vehicles, engine sounds, automobile horns, and human voices) or birdsongs from headphones, or they walked without listening to any acoustic stimuli in the control condition. The participants listening to traffic noise walked significantly faster on the route (mean walking speed was 1.65 m/s) than those listening to forest birdsong sounds (mean walking speed was 1.53 m/s).…”

Ecosystem services enhanced through soundscape management link people and wildlife

“…Noise has also been shown to increase walking speeds in individuals which may influence human perception and enjoyment of locations (Franěk et al, 2018).…”