SILENCE aims at developing an integrated system of methodologies and technologies for an efficient control of urban traffic noise. "Integrated system" means the combined consideration of city authorities, individual traffic (on road) and mass transport (on rail and road) with a holistic treatment of all traffic noise facets: urban noise scenarios, individual noise sources (vehicles), traffic management, noise perception and annoyance. The SILENCE approach starts with three steps: the assessment of urban noise situations based on data from European cities, the definition of two urban noise scenarios as reference basis for the whole project, the identification of the related noise abatement priorities and noise reduction potentials.
On this basis, the RTD activities are developed and integrated to an unique system of noise abatement technologies and tools and methodologies for noise reduction and policies. Thereby, the essential categories of urban traffic vehicles are considered like cars, light duty trucks, buses, trams, metros, trains, etc. One key element of this RTD approach is the global modelling for the prediction of noise effects on urban scenarios. Based on models for individual traffic elements developed in previous EU projects the global model predicts the overall noise emission of complex traffic situations and allows the prediction of noise emission by a source model coherent with the models used in HARMONOISE. This global model is used to apply the noise abatement technologies developed to the two reference noise scenarios, to predict their noise reduction effects and to validate the noise reduction potentials.
Thus, the key results and deliverables of SILENCE are first a noise abatement technology platform for road and rail vehicles, urban transport infrastructure and traffic flow aspects, and second tools, methodologies and input data for decision support systems, urban action plans and future noise scenarios.