Geographic ecological momentary assessment reveals that combined crowding and noise heighten travel stress in urban commuters, suggesting movement patterns regulate environmental exposure.
Key Points
To examine how urban mobility coordinates momentary exposures to greenery, crowding, and noise to influence perceived surroundings and daily travel stress.
Tracked 57 participants in Singapore over 21 days using geographic ecological momentary assessment (GEMA), smartwatches, and GPS.
Analyzed 5,963 momentary stress and perception reports across 1,225 participant-days matched to satellite-derived greenness and sensor-recorded noise, supplemented by 25 qualitative interviews.
Momentary stress increased during crowding alone or combined with low greenness, reaching peak intensity when greenness deficit, crowding, and elevated noise co-occurred.
Objective greenness aligned more strongly with perceived greenness during transit than post-arrival, and during active travel compared to motorized travel.
Longer consecutive periods spent within stable environmental configurations correlated with reduced overall daily stress.