Acoustical Study of a Rapid Transit System

Abstract

Noises generated by trains of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA) were recorded and analyzed. The data was used to evaluate the hazard of noise exposure among crew members and passengers and the extent of speech interference between passengers. The results indicated that some crew members and passengers may develop small amounts of temporary threshold shift in hearing sensitivity and that the probability of incurring permanent hearing loss from exposure to this source is very low. Speech interference among passengers was extensive in most cases.