Urban societies face the challenge of working and living in environments filled with noise and vibration caused by transportation systems. Buildings that are located near transportation corridors often experience floor vibrations and noise induced by passing trains or traffic, which causes building owners and residences some concern. The high prices of real estate in modern cities have stimulated air-rights developments, which consist of buildings constructed over or adjacent to existing transportation systems. As residential towers, hotels office, schools, and hospitals are built over or adjacent to train stations, subways, and highways, audible noise and feelable vibration are concerns not only for building occupants, but also for developers, designers and researchers. Research laboratories and medical facilities conducting highly sensitive operations, and manufacturing plants for nanotechnology, are very much prone to disruption by vibration.

When dealing with environmental vibration and noise problems, some of the main challenges that must be dealt with are the uncertainty and randomness of wheel-rail contact, vibration and noise propagation in different media, and applicability and economy of vibration and noise control methods for different frequencies of interest. With the rapid expansion of cities, the distance between urban traffic corridors and buildings is further shortened, resulting in environmental vibration and noise problems increasingly serious. If the impact of environmental vibration and noise can not be properly controlled, the resulting complaints from people will also cause huge pressure of public opinion.

This Special Issue aims to collect recent research findings in the field of environmental vibration and noise. We welcome original research and review articles for insight into source characteristics, control standards, propagation law, prediction methods and mitigation measures of vibration and noise. The new mathematical and computational techniques, as well as probabilistic methods that support the development and progress of environmental vibration and noise problems, are welcomed.

Potential topics include but are not limited to the following:

• Transportation vibration and noise prediction methods
• Transportation vibration and noise assessment methods and related standards
• Propagation law and control measures of vibration and noise in rail transit
• Rail transit vibration and noise testing technology
• Vibration and noise in rail transit vehicles
• Rail transit vibration comfort and noise annoyance
• Vibration and radiated noise of bridges and building structures
• Evaluation of the long-term performance of wheel and rail vibration and noise
• Application of new techniques in vibration and noise problems