After 20 years of doing nothing new regulation is published by EU. Coming 25 years noise produced will drop with about 2,5 dB. Hooray or a bloody shame? Judge by yourself!

1. Motor Vehicle Noise a mirage that
should be considered as
unparalled
henk.wolfert@dcmr.nl

2. Outline
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Introduction
Traffic Noise in EU
Measures needed
Brief history Vehicle Noise regulation
Policy consequences for cities
Summary
Questions

3. Traffic Noise at day time

4. Traffic Noise at night
people exposed > 50 dB Lnight
50-55
24,790,200
25,000,000
55-60
20,000,000
60-65
13,586,200
15,000,000
65-70
10,000,000
6,961,900
> 70
5,000,000
1,739,700
165,500
0
1

5. Numbers will increase
•
•
•
•
•
Completing 1st round
Results second round
More vehicles
More mileage
Higher performance vehicles
– Bigger
– Heavier
– More Power

6. Measures I

Traffic Management Solutions
Speed reduction
 Smoothing traffic flow
 Dedicated lanes/restricted
zones/parking space





Barriers*, bundling (??)
Road design

Lay-out
 Quiet road surfaces








Financial/fiscal measures
Shift soft modes, car-sharing
Public Transport
Electric and Hybrid vehicles
Insulation of façade






< 1 dB
< 1 dB
Relieves only locally
*Only along ring ways
0,5-1,5 dB depending on space
< 1 dB
3-5 dB (thin layer)
0,5 dB by 10% decline volume
0,5 dB by 10% decline volume
1 dB by 20% shift to Public Tr.
2,6 dB by 50% share 2030*

7. Measures II
E-shopping/working
 E-learning (Coursera, Open Univ.)
local
communi
 E-sporting
ties
 Less consuming
 Less production
ambass
ador
 Awareness
 Physically moving (biking, walking,..)
soc.net
 Public transport
work
 Local products/services
 E-transportation
 Facilities at short distance

enticing
facilities
society
promote
behavior
enticing

8. Conclusions so far
•
•
•
•
•
30% > 65 dB LDEN
Measures in urban areas limited results
Modal split (pass. 73% by car)
Source measures also needed
Less (noisy) vehicles needed

9. Brief history
1970
Number went down with 8-11 dB
1973
1977
1981
1984
-8
till
-11 dB
1987
1989
1992
Noise with zero dB’s
1996
1999
2006

10. Proposal EC
• 1 dB + 2 dB heavy vehicles
• 2 dB + 2 dB passenger vehicles
Third step is missing
Efforts to investigate reductions are missing

11. Procedure
•
•
•
•
European Commission
ENVI Committee EP
European Parliament
Working Party Council
+
+
+/-
• Test method + roundings +CoP+ profile
depth

12. Graphic presentation I
noise limits EU passenger vehicles
81
ptm<120
79
ptm 120-160
ptm >160
77
decibels (dB)
ptm>200 <5seats
75
mass>2500kg
73
mass 2500-3500kg
3500-5000kg<150kW
71
3500-5000 >150kW
69
rpe<160kW
rpe 160-250kW
67
rpe>250kW
65
current limits
EC proposal
EU parlement
institutes
Council

13. Graphic presentation II
noise limits EU freight vehicles
83
Mass>2500kg
81
2500-3500kg
79
decibels (dB)
77
rpe <150kW
75
rpe>150kW
73
rpe>180kW
71
69
rpe 180-250kW
67
65
current limits
rpe>250kW
EC proposal
EU parlement
institutes
Council

14. Policy consequences
In cities:
• Noise will not be lessened next decade,
probably increase due to increase mileage and
number of vehicles
• Noise induced health effects will increase
• Quality of life will deteriorate
• More complaints will occur
• Higher external costs can be expected
• Attractiveness will decrease

15. Policy answers
• No policy, lean back and see where the
ship strands (apathetic, passive role)
cities in line with EU efforts.
• Cities take the lead
(active role, show leadership &
responsibility)

16. What cities can do
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Restricted areas banning certain cars
Higher parking fees
Less parking space dwellings/offices
Free parking e-vehicles/hybrids
Promote sustainable logistics
Improve Public Transport
Strong support to White Paper on
transport EC

17. 17