A STUDY OF THE MAGNITUDE OF TRANSPORTATION NOISE GENERATION AND POTENTIAL ABATEMENT--MOTOR VEHICLE/HIGHWAY SYSTEM NOISE

Motor vehicles are a source of sound in every community and to the extent that sound is excessive, intrusive or unwanted, motor vehicles are a source of noise. Vehicle noise is a function of design/engineering characteristics and mode of operation. Noise reduction can be obtained by modifying the vehicle or its mode of operation. The relative ranking motor vehicles as noise sources are: Diesel truck, motorcycle, gasoline engine truck, bus, sports car and conventional passenger car. Highway noise is a function of traffic stream composition and flow, road design and the noise radiating characteristics of the highway configuration. In general, wayside noise levels can be reduced by interrupting the direct path between the highway and the receiver or by increasing the attenuation through the use of absorptive surfaces. The use of the Motor Vehicle/Highway Noise Model developed for this study is illustrated via the development of noise levels and noise reduction contours for several highway scenarios. A detailed analysis of motor vehicle noise generation and traffic noise prediction is presented along with a supporting analysis of noise propagation from highways. The costs of highway noise abatement are also discussed.