Noise and vibration as environmental impacts of transportation: comprehensive review

• Transport noise and vibration impact health, infrastructure, and quality of life. • Vibration causes more discomfort than noise, affecting health and mental well-being. • Review uses PRISMA methodology to analyze health hazards and transport disturbances. • Methods like low-noise pavements and ANC systems help reduce noise and vibration. • Compliance with WHO standards highlights the need for effective control advancements. This systematic review examines transport noise and vibration in urban and rural areas across Europe, Asia and America, focusing on road, rail, air, and water transport. This study follows the PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) methodology. This review investigates the health and comfort impacts of transport-related disturbances, focusing on the effects of noise and vibration on human health and the built environment. Residential exposure is associated with physical discomfort, psychological stress, cognitive disruption, and structural damage to buildings. It includes various models and equations including Stevens power law to represent the data using objective and subjective magnitudes of sound and vibrations. In laboratory settings comparing equal-energy exposures, low-frequency vibrations often yield higher subjective annoyance ratings than equivalent noise levels; however, in real-world transport scenarios, noise remains the dominant public health stressor, whereas vibration primarily threatens structural integrity and ergonomic comfort. This paper presents methods of minimizing these effects by the development of quieter vehicles, improved noise barriers, low-noise pavements, active noise control (ANC) systems, and vibration isolation. These challenges involve the use of smart structures and systems which include structural health monitoring, and predictive maintenance. Also, compliance with regulatory frameworks set by governments and organizations such as World Health Organization (WHO) confirms the need for further advancements in noise and vibration control techniques. Therefore, this paper provides a basis for future studies on the development of more effective control measures and the improvement of the inhabitants’ quality of life in the affected areas while promoting sustainable and efficient transportation.