Citizen Science Noise Monitoring for the Calle Loíza Community

Project Sponsor: Taller Comunidad La Goyco

Team Members: Amanda Blanchard, Greg Phillips, Jade Logan, Matthew Reynolds, Noah Martins

Project Advisors: Professors John-Michael Davis and Melissa Belz

Project Files:

• Goyco Final Report

Abstract

San Juan, Puerto Rico’s residents are suffering from noise pollution. Our group was asked by the Taller Comunidad La Goyco Center to develop a citizen science-based approach to tracking ongoing noise pollution in Calle Loíza. We interviewed with San Juan residents and with noise pollution advocacy groups to determine the sources of noise pollution and resident’s experiences with combating noise pollution, and common practices to enact change in communities. We found the community to be suffering with noise from local bars and vehicle related noise. To support the community, we built a reporting system for users to upload decibel data to use as direct evidence for creating and enforcing legislature as well as a resources pamphlet to provide clear and actionable steps for businesses and residents to reduce noise.

Executive Summary

Within the United States, Puerto Rico has the highest percentage of its population exposed to noise pollution (dB levels exceeding 70) at 44%, surpassing the national average of 30% (Neitzel et al., 2023). Excessive noise contributes to hearing loss, cardiovascular issues, mental health impacts, and cognitive impairment (Kloth et al., 2019). In the last decade along Calle Loíza in San Juan, a series of bars and restaurants have begun to disturb the residents, leading the community to come together to advocate for themselves. Taller Comunidad La Goyco, a community center focused on well-being, education, and culture. A group of community members formed the Quality of Life Committee at La Goyco to focus on improving the daily lives of the Calle Loíza community. They needed a way to present concrete data to local policy makers to prove there were ongoing concerns about noise levels in their community.

Taller Comunidad La Goyco

Background

Noise pollution advocacy groups have been emerging over time due to the increase in urban noise coupled with inadequate government regulations or enforcement. These groups have used a combination of strategies to push for policy change and provide statistics to their local representatives, such as collecting data, raising awareness, and advocacy tools such as letters and petitions. The NOISE Project is a community-led research project dedicated to understanding and reducing the harmful effects of noise pollution. The project developed an app for noise pollution and equity education and collected noise data for a community map (Purcell, n.d.).

Decibel data and its location collected by noise monitoring systems and by other means serve as a beneficial aid in showing the community’s concerns to local authorities, policy makers, and to other stakeholders.

Goal & Objectives

To aid the community in combating noise pollution by creating the noise monitoring system, we created these objectives:
1. Determine resident’s experiences and efforts to reduce noise pollution.
2. Develop a noise pollution monitoring system to track and visualize noise level data.
3. Develop a taxonomy of strategies for the Calle Loíza community to reduce noise pollution.

Methods

We employed a multi-method approach comprising community interviews, noise advocacy group interviews, and a comparative analysis of noise monitoring websites. We started by determining residents’ experiences and efforts to reduce noise pollution by using semi-structured interviews. We interviewed eight community members in San Juan, mostly from the Calle Loíza area, so that we could find common ongoing causes of noise pollution and what steps have been taken to reduce noise pollution. We then reviewed 39 noise advocacy group’s websites, interviewing with representatives of another six.

The team reviewed websites with noise monitoring systems, identifying two variations. Half the sites used citizen science, allowing users to upload their own data, and the other half used calculated maps based on municipal traffic data and estimated noise values. We identified key features such as individual reports (where users can see a specific report’s values) and map features such as anonymizing locations to within squares.

All-terrain vehicles mentioned by interviewees

Findings

Our interviews with community residents revealed common sources of noise pollution and their challenges in registering complaints. The main sources of noise pollution in the San Juan area are businesses playing loud music and vehicle-related noise (i.e. loud music, engine revving, engine backfiring, and loudened exhausts). Interviewees explained their experiences in trying to hold the businesses accountable. Residents’ described their experiences organizing their neighborhood to visit the permit offices and taking businesses to court. From our community interviews we found overarching themes of a lack of accountability on the part of authorities, a lack of resources to investigate violations of the public order regulations, frustration with inaction, and a separation between citizens and authorities. After reviewing major features found on various noise monitoring sites and apps along with community members’ priorities, the team created a website dedicated to noise reporting and visualizing the data collected. We allowed for users to upload location, time and date, and decibel level. From our research into ways for the community to upload their own data, we identified the most accurate free smartphone apps, including NIOSH for iPhone and Sound Meter and Noise Detector for Android. In addition, we researched commercial sound level meters, choosing a REED R8080 as a device housed at the community center for residents to borrow for taking more accurate readings. From our interviews with six advocacy groups we learned about different advocacy methods such as conversing with local business owners, stakeholders, and authorities as well as ways to reduce noise within the home.

A vehicle modified with excessive speakers mentioned by interviewees

Developing the website

Recommendations

From our findings we have three recommendations for the Calle Loíza community:
1. Conduct Single Day Sampling Events. We recommend the Calle Loíza community engage in single day sampling events to raise community awareness of noise and increase participation in noise monitoring.
2. Utilize Social Media to Increase Community Involvement. We recommend the Calle Loíza community use social media as a way of increasing awareness of noise and monitoring system participation.
3. Reduce Noise Within Your Home or Business. We recommend the Calle Loíza Community take measures to reduce noise within their own homes or businesses as a short-term solution by padding walls, covering windows, and other means.

Conclusion

Noise in San Juan, Puerto Rico has become a major concern for residents. To this end, we examined the negative health effects of noise, interviewed noise advocacy groups and community members, researched noise-mitigating solutions, and created a website for residents to upload their decibel data. Residents of the community on their own or as a part of single-day sampling events can navigate to the map page of the website and fill in the input fields to add their own reports to the database. By coming to Puerto Rico, it was our goal to learn about the residents’ experience and to build a monitoring system for the Calle Loíza community. We hope that this system will be used long into the future to provide a practical tool for combating noise pollution. Noise pollution is not a quickly solvable issue; however, we hope that lasting change can be made if the community is persistent.

A mural of Tito Matos at La Goyco, a community leader, musician, and founder of both La Goyco and La casa de la plena