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Not surprising, but still troubling: A new study from the University of Washington and Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health shows that subways are the loudest forms of mass transit in the city. Some of the noise levels recorded in the subway exceeded 100 decibels, which is loud enough to cause permanent hearing loss for regular straphangers if they're exposed to it for even as little as two minutes a day. (The subway system's average decibel level was 80.4) Health expert Robyn Gershon tells NY1, "For a typical day, you should not exceed between 70 and 75 decibels across that 24 hours. Once you do, it accumulates time after time, year after year, and after a while, you will have hearing loss." The MTA says noise reduction has long been a concern, and their efforts to hush up include retro-fitting stations with noise absorbing barriers and quieting track noise with welded rail fasteners. But we'd be happy if they could just do something about the maddening train brake screeching at Union Square!
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In-ear headphones are a lifesaver.
What's even worse are the people turning up their passive headphones high enough to be louder than the subway.
Exactly - can't hear a thing w the in-ear headphones. It also deters maniacs from interacting with you. Love em.
Some helpful links for anyone looking to save their hearing while underground:
www.etymotic.com
www.shure.com
http://www.ilounge.com/index.php/reviews/sort_grades/79/
http://www.amazon.com/s/qid=1246375476/ref=sr_st?keywords=in-ear&rs=172282&page=1&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3Ain-ear%2Ci%3Aelectronics%2Cn%3A172282%2Cn%3A!493964&sort=pmrank
'Ultimate Ears' are really good too. I had some that I used daily for the past 5 years and are still going strong.
Actually, in-ear headphones are more damaging to your rears because you end up raising the volume of the music higher than usual to drown out the noise of the subway.
Wrong. You effectively have earplugs in to block out the external noise, then you don't need the music to be at a high volume. The total noise entering you ear is much lower than alternatives it just comes from a closer source.
Nope. The kind that seal your ear canal like earplugs means you can leave the volume low and still hear everything. I never turn up my iPod past 50%.
You would be correct if I were referring to regular earbuds, like the kind that come with iPods.
Wrong. Quality in-ear phones both drown out the ambient noise (subways, etc.) and allow the user to listen at a lower volume because they fit more tightly. It's the cheapo (read apple) headphones that force people to turn the volume up.
as a native NY'er in my early 30's, I probably have the hearing of a 80 year old who lives outside the city. Its only a matter of time before I start watching Matlock with the TV on full blast.
matlock, murder she wrote, and golden girls
and Wheel of Fortune!
Earplugs are your friends.
huh? wha?
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=36233544172
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/group.php?gid=36233544172
no
You think people care, how sweet
"can't the MTA afford to at least grease up their brakes"
Right. "Grease up their brakes." That's the answer, grease. On the brakes.
Union Square on the 4,5,6 platform is the worst. Shrill!
I think this comes from that sharp curve as it passes the platform. Terrible.
The absolute worst was the old South Ferry station. That hairpin turn made the trains absolutely shriek every time. It was beyond ear splitting every single time that train came into the station.
Just one of the many reasons the new station is SO much better.
RUBBER TIRES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubber-tyred_metro
gotta love the montreal metro. some of the lines in paris too, from what i remember. whipser quiet in comparison.
gotta love the montreal metro. some of the lines in paris too, from what i remember. whipser quiet in comparison.
same in mexico city. the soft swoosh of huge rubber tires echoing through the tunnels is very soothing, yet the lack of A/C is a bitch.
No AC in Mexico City? Awful. On the other hand I really wish the MTA would turn down the AC on some of their trains, it's like they're trying to make up for the old overheated trains by turning the new ones into ice boxes
The "E" trains used to have a really loud breaking noise, now that the R32s are slowly being phrase out no more of that.
Earplugs or ear-bud headphones at lower volumes (JVC Marshmallows are great and cheap) are great. The people with headphones/buds that sit just outside of their ear canals end up blasting their iPod volumes to dangerous levels - and annoying the hell out of their fellow commuters of course.
There is always a guy in a suit blasting Britney Spears thinking no one is the wiser. Meanwhile everyone can hear and is staring at the dude with high levels of contempt and pity.
I smell a subway fare increase on the horizon. The MTA will put bids out for quiet subways like London has. Then two years later they will announce that the agent that won the contract is incompetent and over budget. There will be a lot of outrage and then we will welcome the $5 subway fare.
The problem with Union Square is that it is on a relatively sharp curve. The noise problem is also one of the reasons the abandoned City Hall subway station was not turned into another annex of the Transit Museum. The 6 train going around the curve makes Union Square look quiet.
I'm not worried about the subway making me deaf. The Prigs are gonna get me there long before the subway ever could.
"For a typical day, you should not exceed between 70 and 75 decibels across that 24 hours."
What? That makes no sense. Noise exposure is determined by how long you're exposed during those 24 hours, not just no exposure whatsoever. OSHA says 90db is acceptable for up to 8 hours a day and 100db for up to 2 hours. I would err a little more on the side of caution, but you don't just say "don't exceed 70 and 75db." Either she was seriously misquoted (quite possible given how ignorant journaists are of science and medicine) or she's not the "health expert" we're led to believe.
70db is what you experience in a room full of people talking. heh.
You're relying on a study from a school called the Mailman School of Public Health?
I'm pretty sure it's just not a good quote. I don't think she meant you should NEVER exceed 75db. The emphasis is on "typical day," which is to say that you shouldn't be exceeding that SPL on a daily basis. Even if it's only for a minute or two, if it's a minute or two every day it adds up.
That's still wrong. Read up on OSHA noise exposure limits. They allow different lengths of exposure for each level of noise, starting at 90db. For every 10db increase above that, it's a 4x decrease in allowable maximum exposure per day. It's absolutely meaningless to say you can't exceed 75db on a daily basis.
I wish I could give a copy of this study to all the people who look at me funny when I cover my ears on a subway platform. I'm sure I have hearing loss from riding the trains, and some from seeing The Who at Shea in 1982.
In addition to the maintenance issues they need to stop the ridiculous practice of having trains that aren't stopping in the station blow their horn several times while passing through the station.
They also need to enforce the alarmed gates so lazy people stop setting off the alarms. And if there is a way to open those designated as service gates without setting off the alarm it needs to be better instructions. I wonder how many babies have had their hearing damaged?
I don't ride them smelly subways or buses.
I just hop on my bike.
It took 2 university studies to determine that?! Hell, I could have told you that. It's a no-brainer, don't you think?