THE THERMAL COMFORT IN THE SURFACE PUBLIC TRANSPORT
FROM BUCHAREST DURING THE SUMMER PERIOD
D. MORCOTEŢ
ABSTRACT. – The thermal comfort during the summer period inside the surface public transport from Bucharest. The studies of human biometeorology are few at national level and the existing ones target especially housing or office buildings. This paper aims instead the surface public transport, represented by three categories of vehicles (bus, trolleybus and tram), from a city with over two million passengers per day with this transportation type. The study covers the warm season of the year, because this is the period with the most intense thermal discomfort, due to the excessive daytime heating of the air inside the transport vehicles. This paper is based on the expeditionary measurements undertaken inside seven vehicle models, selected depending on their share in the public transport fleet. A certain transport route was selected for each of those models, and the measurements were performed in certain days, depending on their meteorological characteristics. The study revealed that the construction features of the analyzed vehicles are decisive for the thermal discomfort level of passengers.
Keywords: thermal comfort, thermal discomfort, vehicle model, biometeorological index, air temperature.