Value for Money in Road Traffic Noise Abatement

AbstractNoise from road traffic has over the years become a major problem in society. To investigate possible strategies for governments to pursue on noise abatement, and give a recommendation on which strategy will be most beneficial for society at large, this paper focuses on reducing noise annoyance and the cost effectiveness of different noise abatement measures when it comes to changing one “annoyed” by road traffic noise to one no longer “annoyed” by road traffic noise.When viewed over a 20 years perspective, the cost of reducing the annoyance by one varies from 15 euros to 1800 euros per year depending on the measure chosen. Handling noise at source is the most cost effective approach to reduce noise annoyance, and especially to address the vehicle noise. The measures investigated are noise barriers, facade insulation, quieter road surfaces and development and production of quieter vehicle