18. Environmental Assessment

Health needs to be included as a parameter (Lancet study on better impact of climate action if health aspect included)

1. 1. Improved environment for uptake of sustainable transport needs to see reduced car usage and reduced traffic capacity
   2. Specific health aspects need to be addressed: Physical inactivity and sedentary car dependency, noise pollution, air pollution - none of which is addressed in any in-depth manner.
   3. Noise Pollution
      1. In the strategy modelling report the noise from goods vehicles is projected to increase and the noise from cars is assumed to reduce as electric motors are quieter than internal combustion engines. This ignores that most noise is generated from the tyres slapping off the road surface and not the engine. Tyre noise is dominant from 30km/h and at 50km/h there is no difference in nois. The effect of a heavier fleet due to electrification and the trend to SUVs is not accounted for.
      2. People drafting the noise action plan rely on purported noise reductions promised in the transport strategy as the extract for the Dublin noise action plan 2018-2023 below demonstrates:

         “There are on-going sustainability policies being implemented at a local level that aim to increase the mode share of sustainable travel modes in the Dublin region with resultant reduction in noise and air pollution levels.

         However, we know that there is no resultant reduction in car traffic from the changing mode share. This misunderstanding is due to the shifting baseline of population growth, i.e. the modal share for car driving could reduce at the same time as absolute car numbers go up, with the associated noise and air emissions. This needs to be explained better, especially to policy makers.

         The noise action plan, referencing policies including the Transport strategy, stated that “integration of noise mitigation measures into their implementation will be sought where it is considered necessary”. Therefore, a larger engagement on the noise issue was expected

   4. Recommendations on noise and air quality
      1. Better integration with noise and air action plans.
      2. SMART targets for noise and air pollution exposure reduction
         1. Annual target to reduce the amount of people who suffer exposure to unhealthy levels of noise and night-time noise
         2. Annual monitoring and reporting
         3. Annual targeted reduction in the number of people exposed to PM2.5 and NO2 levels exceeding the WHO guideline levels (or EU levels if the WHO are considered too stringent)
         4. Annual monitoring and reporting.