A “real-time” noise mapping project, named DYNAMAP, has been developed in the framework of a Life+ 2013 program and cofunded by the European Commission. The project aims at giving a real picture of the noise generated by vehicular traffic. To this purpose, a dedicated platform has been developed to elaborate the information from distributed noise monitoring stations. The methodology has been implemented along the ring road encircling the city of Rome (Italy). A detailed description of the system is given together with a report on the testing campaign that allowed evaluation of the accuracy and reliability of the system. From the monitoring campaign satisfactory results have been achieved, showing an average overall prediction error of ~1.5 dB.

There is an increasing scientific interest in studying vehicular traffic pollution in road tunnels. This is due both to the interest in evaluating the effect that the different polluting gases can have on the driving style of motorists and also to the hypothesis that tunnels could be considered as closed systems in which the vehicular traffic–pollution correlation is easier to study because it is more easily separated from other effects. In this work, a system of low-cost IoT sensor nodes for the detection of carbon monoxide (CO), nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), ozone (O₃), particulate matters (PM₁, PM_2.5, PM₁₀), relative humidity (RH) and temperature (T) has been installed in an Italian tunnel, where vehicular traffic has been measured and classified for type of vehicles. The results of the measurement campaign, which lasted 3 months, from April to June 2022, allowed us to state that road tunnels actually behave like closed and isolated systems in which pollution may be directly correlated to the traffic volume and type. Furthermore, data show that quite high values of the major pollutants are observable in the tunnel in comparison to the external environment. As such, IoT sensor nodes may contribute to a distributed measuring approach on the road tunnel system mechanics assessment including, as an example, the operational impacts of forced ventilation.

This Special Issue is focused on all the technologies necessary for the development of an efficient wireless acoustic sensor network, from the first stages of its design to the tests conducted during deployment; its final performance; and possible subsequent implications for authorities in terms of the definition of policies. This Special Issue collects the contributions of several LIFE and H2020 projects aimed at the design and implementation of intelligent acoustic sensor networks, with a focus on the publication of good practices for the design and deployment of intelligent networks in any locations.

The DYNAMAP project is a LIFE project aiming at developing a dynamic noise mapping system able to detect and represent in real time the acoustic impact due to road infrastructures (dynamic noise maps). Dynamic noise maps are achieved by updating pre-calculated basic noise maps as a function of sound pressure levels and weather conditions, provided by an automatic monitoring system, made of customized low-cost sensors and of a software tool implemented in a general purpose GIS platform. The feasibility of this approach will be validated by installing the system in two pilot areas with different territorial and environmental characteristics: an agglomeration and a major road. The first pilot area is located in Milan, in a significant portion of the town, while the second one is situated along the motorway A90 encircling the city of Rome. In this paper the main issues related to the preparation of the basic noise maps and the implementation of the Dynamap system in the suburban area of Rome are described. An overview of the test sites and of the system configuration is also provided.

In recent decades, the growing demand for mobility—driven by population growth and supported by investments in infrastructure and technological advancements in the automotive industry—has led to the widespread use of private vehicles as the dominant mode of transportation and to an extensive road network. This has made the transportation sector a significant contributor to pollution levels, with road transport emerging as the main source of emissions and noise pollution caused by traffic. In the ECODRIVE project, the problem has been addressed at its source by implementing a series of policy combinations through a simulation-based approach. These policies were designed to manage traffic flow variables and transportation demand, with the objective of simultaneously reducing emissions and noise. While encouraging more sustainable driving behaviours, these policies also aim at improving the environmental impact of road transport without compromising the level of service of the infrastructure. The results, presented in this paper, highlight the potential of an integrated approach for mitigating the overall road-related pollution. At the same time, they underscore the challenges of addressing emissions and noise simultaneously, due to their differing relationships with traffic flow parameters, and the need to balance environmental goals with system performance.