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Stockholmers largely followed the Swedish Public Health Agency’s recommendations during the spring, new noise measurements show. At the end of March of this year, a busy intersection was quieter than it was during Christmas week last year.
The sound volume in Stockholm dropped dramatically when recommendations came from the Swedish Public Health Agency. Stock Photography.
In the spring of 2019, researchers from the Royal Institute of Technology placed microphones at several strategic locations in Stockholm to measure traffic noise in the city. When the corona epidemic broke out in the spring, they decided to use the data in a different way.
– After a few weeks, we were able to hear many discussions in other countries, in the media and from colleagues, about Sweden’s soft focus. We are curious and think: we have the data, we can see what really happened during the pandemic, says Romain Rumpler, a researcher at KTH.
They selected a microphone located at the Götgatan – Folkungagatan intersection in Södermalm, which was considered representative. There are bus stops, subway, cars, shops, places of work and nightlife.
The data, ranging from spring 2019 to summer 2020, show that activity in the area fell dramatically in the week of March when the first recommendations from the Swedish Public Health Agency were issued.
The change was evident on both working days and holidays, which shows that the recommendations affected both work and leisure life in the area.
At the turn of the month, March / April, the volume of the sound was on par with the quietest days of the year, the eve of San Juan and Christmas Eve. On weekends, the sound volume was reduced by three decibels, a reduction in noise that on a highway would be equivalent to halving the flow of traffic.
– Seeing such a large reduction was surprising. At the same time, we were able to see the changes around us. But it was also surprising that the reduction was so large both on weekends and on weekdays, says Romain Rumpler.
After a month of low activity, the volume of the sound began to slowly increase again, to approach normal levels towards the end of June. Now Romain Rumpler and his colleagues will investigate how the noise level changes during the fall, if the Stockholmers begin to return to normal.
– This analysis shows why it is so interesting to measure noise in an urban environment. The media reported a lot about bars not following the guidelines, but our results show that something actually happened. We would also like to see how this could work in real time, both for the authorities and the public. This is something that can benefit us all, says Romain Rumpler.
