Road Traffic Noise Annoyance in Relation to Average Noise Level, Number of Events and Maximum Noise Level

✍ Scribed by T. Sato; T. Yano; M. Björkman; R. Rylander

• Publisher: Elsevier Science
• Year: 1999
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 122 KB
• Volume: 223
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0022-460X
• DOI: 10.1006/jsvi.1999.2153

✦ Synopsis

The extent of annoyance caused by road trac noise was investigated in 15 areas with a varying number of vehicles and dierent distances between the trac and houses. The goal was to compare two principles for expressing noise exposure. One was based on the conventional energy equivalent value in terms of a 24-hour L Aeq value. The other was based on the number of events and noise level as two independent variables. A postal questionnaire study was performed in the dierent areas, and noise exposure measurements were made at a representative site in each area. The individual noise exposure was calculated on the basis of the distance of the respondent from the road and the ¯oor level. The results showed that the number of noise events did not in¯uence the extent of annoyance. There was a strong relationship between the L Aeq and the extent of annoyance as well as between the maximum noise level and the extent of annoyance. These data suggest that actions to control the disturbing eects of road trac noise should focus on noisy vehicles and that limiting the number of vehicles would not have an eect on the extent of annoyance.