noise – Community of Metros Benchmarking Group

COMET meetings have been held virtually since April 2020! Due to COVID-19, all in-person meetings were moved online, with four types of virtual events: general meetings, regional meetings, study/KPI webinars, and expert workshops (focused on COVID-19).

Quarterly General Meetings were held in April, July, and October 2020 to partially replace the benchmarking group meetings, keeping metros informed on member latest developments and benchmarking work and business. The first regional virtual meeting was a Chinese-Speaking Metros Meeting in September, the first meeting in COMET history to have segments conducted directly in Mandarin (with consecutive translation for other parts). This meeting focused on regional benchmarking results and issues of local interest.

Two webinars on the topics of Noise and Vibration (September 2020) and KPI benchmarking (December 2020) reached a wider audience in metros. Finally, in response to COVID-19, two workshops on Planning to Restore Metro Operations (June 2020) and Funding and Financing (November 2020) were held for metros to share experiences and to discuss COMET research this year relating to COVID-19.

A full calendar of virtual events is planned for 2021.

Noise and vibration are byproducts of urban rail systems, exacerbated by siting metro infrastructure near to sources of demand. This study was carried out as a follow-up to previous work that has been carried out in CoMET and Nova on the topic and examined practices to reduce and mitigate noise and vibration from 27 CoMET and Nova metros.

The research covers a number of areas including benchmarking of metro networks, benchmarking of noise and vibration levels, key issues causing noise and vibration across metros, relevant regulation, targets, and importantly initiatives to reduce and mitigate noise and vibration. The study identifies the key actions that metros can undertake during planning, design and operations, as well as proactive and reactive measures that metros can take once the system is already operating and established. The widest and likely most effective range of actions can be taken early in design and planning, but there are a number of options across operations and maintenance that can help to manage and reduce noise and vibration. The challenge is for metro operators will be to continue to mitigate, manage and reduce noise and vibration impacts alongside rising expectations for liveability in cities, regulatory requirements, and the long-term nature of infrastructure design.

Community of Metros News: 2020 COMET Virtual Meetings

Research: Noise and Vibration