Including everyday mobility with agent-based models in the assessment of critical areas of noise exposure

Identifying urban areas that concentrate critical noise exposures is a fundamental step in formulating noise action plans for protecting public health. Standard European assessments that guide this identification are based on residential exposure to noise, neglecting everyday mobility. There is growing interest in noise assessment using agent-based exposure models to address this limitation. This approach aims to simulate a daily activity plan for each individual in a modeled population to estimate their trajectories. Based on the mobility pattern of the population, transport-related noise emissions and propagation are modeled. Then, the exposure profile of each agent is estimated. This study uses this framework to investigate how mobility shapes noise exposure across activity contexts, social groups, and time of the day. A case study on Lyon and Villeurbanne cities shows that a residential exposure assessment can lead to a 10% underestimation of critical exposure occurrences compared to a mobility-based assessment. Beyond the total number of occurrences, activity contexts of exposure evolve during the day, with relevant critical exposure areas emerging concerning work and study activities. Regarding target group analysis, for young agents, exposure mitigation in educational settings has the potential to reduce critical exposure occurrences by nearly half. Further, the study analyzes the relationships between short-term and daily dose exposures and reviews the definition of critical exposure periods adapted to specific life rhythms. Future research should focus on noise impact assessments for context-specific exposures and the translation of critical area analysis into noise management strategies. • Spatio-temporal improvements for the formulation of noise action plans. • Implementation of agent-based models to assess critical exposure areas. • Analysis of critical areas by social, temporal, and activity categories. • Study of short-term noise exposure of individuals with high daily dose. • Need for complementary noise dose–response curves by contexts-specific exposure.