Vehicle pass-by measurements in simplified roadside wall configurations

Abstract Urban traffic noise is not only dependent on the source but also on the environment. This is not explicitly represented in standardized measurement procedures such as the Statistical Pass-By (SPB) method, which captures pass-by noise without urban structures. This study investigates vehicle pass-by noise with simplified roadside wall configurations. The experimental design builds on the SPB method and introduces two roadside walls, forming single- and two-wall configurations at four receiver positions. This allows investigation of the contributions of direct, reflected, and diffracted sound. Pass-by measurements of two passenger vehicles (diesel sedan and battery-electric SUV) were repeated at speeds of 10, 30, and 50 km/h. Shadow-zone boundaries segmented each pass-by event. The analysis combines level-based indicators with the psychoacoustic metrics loudness and sharpness. Results show that the two-wall configuration has a limited influence on maximum pass-by levels (up to +3.4 dB(A) at 30 km/h and within ±1 dB(A) at 50 km/h), while primarily producing frequency-dependent spectral redistribution and differences in level, loudness, and sharpness, particularly within the shadow-zone sections. Discrepancies in the shadow zones indicate that the standardized method of analysis does not capture the full scale of perceptual investigations. The dataset provides real-track measurements for validating traffic-noise auralizations and urban propagation models.