DOCSLIB.ORG

Airport Noise in South Africa – Prediction Models and Their Effect on Land-Use Planning

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Airport Noise in South Africa – Prediction Models and Their Effect on Land-Use Planning Airport noise in South Africa – Prediction models and their effect on land-use planning PAUL GOLDSCHAGG Dissertation presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Stellenbosch. Prof HL Zietsman December 2007 ii AUTHOR’S DECLARATION I, the undersigned, hereby declare that the work contained in this dissertation is my own original work and that I have not previously in its entirety or in part submitted it at any university for a degree. Signature: _________________________ Date: _________________________ Copyright © 2007 Stellenbosch University All rights reserved iii ABSTRACT The use of average energy aircraft noise contours as the sole means for guiding aircraft noise-based planning around airports is being questioned increasingly. A growing proportion of residents who live in neighbourhoods adjacent to airports are dissatisfied with the averaging procedure that is employed. In their experience of exposure to aircraft noise, particularly in the evening and at night when they are at home, the average energy aircraft noise descriptors are misleading. In order to effectively analyse the socio-spatial interaction of annoyance at and interference by aircraft noise, an alternative approach has been suggested – a supplemental noise perspective. Conventional approaches to aircraft noise land use planning based on average energy noise descriptors run the risk of being ineffectual, or even counterproductive, because they do not consider the central aspects of disturbance, namely the loudness of an event and the number of times events are heard. Consequently, an alternative measure to ameliorate the limitations of average energy noise contours is needed by which airport neighbours, the aviation industry and town planners can better understand the nature of the problem. Although supplemental noise analysis is not new, this study applies it to a South African international airport (OR Tambo) for the first time. The airport’s operations are typical of many busy airports close to large urban areas, serving domestic, regional and international routes. Reportedly, there have been few complaints about noise emanating from the airport, but when they are made they are usually about evening and night-time aircraft noise events. In the context of South Africa as a developing society in transition, where growth of urban settlements continues apace, average energy aircraft noise information must be enhanced by providing supplemental noise information. This study investigated the broad issue of land use planning around airports by employing two aircraft noise prediction models, namely the Integrated Noise Model and the Transparent Noise Information Package, to establish the various potential effects and consequences of night-time aircraft noise in noise zones demarcated according to supplemental aircraft noise information. The effects and consequences examined include annoyance, disturbance of sleep, telephone conversations, watching iv television and work or study, and the likelihood that people will move away to escape night-time aircraft noise. The perceptions of residents living in neighbourhoods around the airport were surveyed and the responses analysed according to noise zones classified as supplemental noise information. The results show that the airport’s neighbours are annoyed by aircraft noise and that aircraft noise interferes with normal household activities. This annoyance and interference decreases with increasing distance from the airport. Furthermore, reported annoyance and interference is greater in those areas where higher numbers of noise events are encountered, even at relatively low noise levels of 60 LAmax – something not evident from average energy noise contours. This finding strengthens the argument that it is insufficient to provide only average energy aircraft noise information when studying the impact of aircraft noise. To understand the situation more fully, supplemental noise information is essential. The study concludes with a framework constructed to apply supplemental aircraft noise information to the abatement and mitigation measures normally used to deal with aircraft noise. KEYWORDS and KEY PHRASES Airport noise, aircraft noise, aircraft noise annoyance/interference, aircraft noise descriptors, average energy noise contours, Integrated Noise Model, Johannesburg International Airport, land use planning, noise abatement/mitigation, noise zones, OR Tambo International Airport, supplemental noise information, Transparent Noise Information Package. v OPSOMMING Die gebruik van gemiddelde energie geraaskontoere as die enigste manier om vliegtuiggeraas-gebaseerde beplanning rondom lughawens te rig, word in toenemende mate bevraagteken. Al hoe meer inwoners in die omstreke van lughawens is ontevrede met die aweryprosedure wat gevolg word. Hulle ervaring van blootstelling aan vliegtuiggeraas – veral in die aand en nag – getuig daarvan dat die gemiddelde energie geraasbeskrywers misleidend is. Om die sosiaal-ruimtelike interaksie van ergenis met en steuring deur vliegtuiggeraas effektief te ontleed, is ‘n alternatiewe benadering al voorgestel, naamlik ‘n aanvullende geraasperspektief. Konvensionele benaderings tot grondgebruikbeplanning wat vliegtuiggeraas oorweeg, loop die gevaar om ondoeltreffend, selfs teenproduktief, te wees omdat hulle nie die sentrale aspekte van steuring, naamlik die luidheid van ‘n gebeurtenis en die aantal kere wat dit gehoor word, in ag neem nie. Gevolglik word ‘n ander maatstaf benodig om die beperkings van die gemiddelde energie geraaskontoere te verbeter sodat die lughawe se bure, die lugvaartindustrie en stadsbeplanners die aard van die probleem beter kan verstaan. Ofskoon aanvullende geraasanalise nie nuut is nie, word dit in hierdie studie vir die eerste maal op ‘n Suid-Afrikaanse internasionale lughawe (OR Tambo) toegepas. Die lughawe se werksaamhede is soortgelyk aan baie ander bedrywige lughawens naby groot stedelike gebiede wat binnelandse, streeks- en internasionale roetes bedien. Volgens berig, word min klagtes oor geraas afkomstig van die lughawe ingedien, maar wanneer dit wel gebeur, handel dit meesal oor vliegtuiggeraas saans en snags. In die konteks van Suid- Afrika as ‘n ontwikkelende en transformerende gemeenskap met stedelike gebiede wat aanhou snel groei, moet gemiddelde energie vliegtuiggeraasinligting deur aanvullende geraasinligting versterk word. Hierdie studie het die breë kwessie van grondgebruik rondom lughawens ondersoek deur twee modelle vir vliegtuiggeraasvoorspelling, naamlik die Geïntegreerde Geraasmodel en die Deursigtige Geraasinligtingspakket, in te span om die verskeie potensiële effekte en gevolge van nagtelike vliegtuiggeraas in geraassones afgebaken volgens aanvullende vi vliegtuiggeraasinligting, vas te stel. Die effekte en gevolge wat ondersoek is, sluit verergdheid, die versteuring van slaap, telefoongesprekke, televisiekyk en werk- of studiebedrywighede in, asook die waarskynlikheid dat mense sal wegtrek om nagtelike vlietuiggeraas te ontvlug. ‘n Opname oor die persepsies van inwoners in die buurte rondom die lughawe is uitgevoer en die response is volgens geraassones geklassifiseer as aanvullende geraasinligting. Die resultate toon dat die lughawe se bure versteur is deur vliegtuiglawaai en dat die geraas by normale huishoudelike aktiwiteite inmeng. Hierdie ergenis en steuring neem af met toenemende afstand vanaf die lughawe. Verder is vasgestel dat die vermelde versteuring en inmenging groter is in dié gebiede waar meer geraasvoorvalle plaasvind, selfs teen relatief lae geraasvlakke van 60 LAmax – iets wat nie blyk uit gemiddelde energie geraaskontoere nie. Hierdie bevinding ondersteun die argument dat dit ontoereikend is om slegs gemiddelde energie vliegtuiggeraasinligting by die bestudering van die effekte van vliegtuiggeraas te gebruik. Aanvullende geraasinligting is noodsaaklik vir beter begrip van geraastoestande. Die studie sluit met ‘n raamwerk waarmee aanvullende vliegtuiggeraasinligting aangewend kan word by die geraasverminderings- en verligtingsmaatreëls wat normaalweg ingespan word om met vliegtuiglawaai te handel. SLEUTELWOORDE EN -FRASES Aanvullende geraasinligting, Deursigte Geraasinligtingspakket, ergenis met/steuring deur vliegtuiggeraas, Geïntegreerde Geraasmodel, gemiddelde energie geraaskontoere, geraassones, geraasvermindering, geraasversagting, grondgebruikbeplanning, Johannesburg Internasionale Lughawe, lughawegeraas, OR Tambo Internasionale Lughawe, vliegtuiggeraas, vliegtuiggeraasbeskrywers vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I should like to thank the following people: My supervisor, Prof HL Zietsman, for his advice, guidance and patience, particularly for continuing to work with me after taking retirement. Dr P De Necker for his patient editing. Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS) for providing the air traffic movement data. Ekhuruleni Metro for providing the GIS land-use data and other valuable insights. The staff at the Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, Stellenbosch University, for their assistance. My colleagues, Kobus Reynecke, Andre Bruton and Allen van der Linde for their technical support. My family, parents Eddie and Barbara; wife Jane; and children David, Sarah, Danielle and Michael for all their understanding and encouragement. viii CONTENTS 1 CHAPTER 1: AIRCRAFT NOISE: AN ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEM ...........................1 1.1 BACKGROUND AND RATIONALE FOR THE STUDY.............................................. 1 1.2 RESEARCH PROBLEM: LINKING AIRCRAFT
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Characteristics and Control Strategies of Aircraft Noise in China
    This is a repository copy of The characteristics and control strategies of aircraft noise in China. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/86046/ Version: Accepted Version Article: Xie, H., Li, H. and Kang, J. (2014) The characteristics and control strategies of aircraft noise in China. Applied Acoustics , 84. 47 - 57. ISSN 0003-682X https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apacoust.2014.01.011 Reuse Unless indicated otherwise, fulltext items are protected by copyright with all rights reserved. The copyright exception in section 29 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 allows the making of a single copy solely for the purpose of non-commercial research or private study within the limits of fair dealing. The publisher or other rights-holder may allow further reproduction and re-use of this version - refer to the White Rose Research Online record for this item. Where records identify the publisher as the copyright holder, users can verify any specific terms of use on the publisher’s website. Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. [email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ Hui Xie et al: Applied Acoustics [DOI:10.1016/j.apacoust.2014.01.011] The characteristics and control strategies of aircraft noise in China Hui Xie a,b * , Heng Li a,b, Jian Kang b,c a Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China b Key Laboratory of New Technology for Construction of Cities in Mountain Area, Ministry of Education, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China c School of Architecture, University of Sheffield, Western Bank, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK Abstract Aircraft noise pollution is a common challenge faced by the world.
    [Show full text]
  • Case Study on Aircraft Noise Reduction by Variation of Departure Profiles During Night Flights
    Deutscher Luft- und Raumfahrtkongress 2019 DocumentID: 490198 CASE STUDY ON AIRCRAFT NOISE REDUCTION BY VARIATION OF DEPARTURE PROFILES DURING NIGHT FLIGHTS M. Mitzkat, C. Strümpfel - Technische Universität Berlin Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, Chair of Flight Guidance and Air Transport Marchstr. 12, 10587 Berlin, Germany [email protected] [email protected] Abstract Since the civil air transportation sector has been growing significantly, with an increase not only in number of flights, but also with regards to their environmental impact, emissions have been growing to the same degree. Residents in areas around airports are therefore exposed to an increasing strain of noise pollution. Past scientific research has identified large potential through the implementation of operational noise abatement procedures. The following paper will present a case study concerning noise abatement procedures during departure flight phase as a measure to reduce aircraft noise. The study was conducted on behalf of the aircraft noise commission council of Berlin-Tegel airport. The main objective of this research was to assess whether the reduction of aircraft noise pollution can be achieved by noise abatement procedures, which are specifically adapted for the purpose of night-flights. Therefore, regular domestic overnight airmail flights were conducted as test flights between Berlin-Tegel airport and Stuttgart-Echterdingen airport. Those flights, which were performed from August 2016 to May 2017, qualify perfectly for this study, due to their specific schedule and uniform testing environment combined with a higher general focus on night-time noise immissions. In order to develop sustainable operational procedures for aircraft noise reduction, a holistic approach is nec- essary.
    [Show full text]
  • Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters Inquiry Into the Conduct of the 2013 Federal Election
    11 April 2014 Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters Parliament House Canberra ACT Please find attached my submission to the Committee's inquiry into the conduct of the 2013 federal election. In my submission I make suggestions for changes to political party registration under the Commonwealth Electoral Act. I also suggest major changes to Senate's electoral system given the evident problems at lasty year's election as well as this year's re-run of the Western Australian Senate election. I also make modest suggestions for changes to formality rules for House of Representatives elections. I have attached a substantial appendix outlining past research on NSW Legislative Council Elections. This includes ballot paper surveys from 1999 and research on exhaustion rates under the new above the line optional preferential voting system used since 2003. I can provide the committee with further research on the NSW Legislative Council system, as well as some ballot paper research I have been carrying out on the 2013 Senate election. I am happy to discuss my submission with the Committee at a hearing. Yours, Antony Green Election Analyst Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Electoral Matters Inquiry into the Conduct of the 2013 Federal Election Antony Green Contents Page 1. Political Party Registration 1 2. Changes to the Senate's Electoral System 7 2.1 Allow Optional Preferential Voting below the line 8 2.2 Above the Line Optional Preferential Voting 9 2.3 Hare Clark 10 2.4 Hybrid Group Ticket Option 10 2.5 Full Preferential Voting Above the Line 11 2.6 Threshold Quotas 11 2.7 Optional Preferential Voting with a Re-calculating Quota 12 2.8 Changes to Formula 12 2.9 My Suggested Solution 13 3.
    [Show full text]
  • Scanned Document
    1 U.S. DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION EASTERN SERVICE AREA CATEGORICAL EXCLUSION DECLARATION/RECORD OF DECISION The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has determined that the following proposed airspace procedure changes associated with Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA) are categorically excluded from further environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). To enhance national security, and in response to a request from the United States Secret Service (USSS), the proposed action amends eight existing north flow standard instrument departures (SIDs) by moving one waypoint approximately 784 feet to the southwest to direct aircraft further away from protected airspace above the White House and Naval Observatory. Additionally, in response to a request from the Reagan National Community Noise Working Group, the proposed action amends one waypoint on six existing SIDs, which will route aircraft closer to the Potomac River. Furthermore, the proposed action will establish the AMEEE1 SID to replace the HOLTB1 and BOOCK3, both of which will be canceled. The AMEEE procedure will use the new waypoint established for national security, and will otherwise not change from the procedures it is replacing. Finally, to integrate air traffic with the Northeast Corridor (NEC) and Atlantic Coast Routes (ACR) procedures, the action proposes to implement the SCOOB transition by extending the AMEEE (HOLTB/BOOCK replacement procedure) enroute transition beyond waypoint COLIN to SCOOB. This final action also requires amending the Baltimore Washington Airport (BWI) CONLE SID and Dulles Airport (IAD) JCOBY SID to establish the SCOOB Transition beyond COLIN waypoint. The SCOOB transition will be used for aircraft flying over 18,000 feet above ground level (AGL).
    [Show full text]
  • Hushkit Regulation’ Environmental Protection Or ‘Eco’-Protectionism?
    IWIM - Institut für Weltwirtschaft und Internationales Management IWIM - Institute for World Economics and International Management ‘Noise wars’: The EU’s ‘Hushkit Regulation’ Environmental Protection or ‘Eco’-protectionism? Andreas Knorr and Andreas Arndt Materialien des Wissenschaftsschwerpunktes „Globalisierung der Weltwirtschaft“ Band 23 Hrsg. von Andreas Knorr, Alfons Lemper, Axel Sell, Karl Wohlmuth Universität Bremen ‘Noise wars’: The EU’s ‘Hushkit Regulation’ Environmental Protection or ‘Eco’-protectionism? Andreas Knorr and Andreas Arndt Andreas Knorr, Alfons Lemper, Axel Sell, Karl Wohlmuth (Hrsg.): Materialien des Wissenschaftsschwerpunktes „Globalisierung der Weltwirtschaft“, Bd. 23, Juli 2002, ISSN 0948-3837 (ehemals: Materialien des Universitätsschwerpunktes „Internationale Wirtschaftsbeziehungen und Internationales Management“) Bezug: IWIM - Institut für Weltwirtschaft und Internationales Management Universität Bremen Fachbereich Wirtschaftswissenschaft Postfach 33 04 40 D- 28334 Bremen Telefon: 04 21 / 2 18 - 34 29 Telefax: 04 21 / 2 18 - 45 50 E-mail: [email protected] Homepage: http://www.wiwi.uni-bremen.de/iwim Abstract On May 4, 2000, the EU enacted the so-called ’hushkit regulation‘ with the stated aim of reducing aircraft noise levels by significantly curbing the use of hushkitted (i.e. muff- led) or re-engined older-generation jet aeroplanes at Community airports. The USA, however, home of both the entire hushkit industry and the vast majority of the operators and owners of the potentially affected aircraft, immediately demanded the regulation’s repeal, denouncing its purely protectionist intent and effects and threatening the EU with retaliatory action. After a lengthy political and legal controversy the EU, in Octo- ber 2001, gave in and withdrew the legislation. In this paper we evaluate the late ’hush- kit regulation‘ from three different perspectives – environmental policy, trade policy and rent-seeking potential – to determine its respective merits and demerits.
    [Show full text]
  • SENATE Official Hansard
    COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES SENATE Official Hansard MONDAY, 26 MAY 1997 THIRTY-EIGHTH PARLIAMENT FIRST SESSION—FOURTH PERIOD BY AUTHORITY OF THE SENATE CANBERRA CONTENTS MONDAY, 26 MAY Representation of Western Australia .......................... 3519 Senators: Swearing In .................................... 3519 Representation of Victoria ................................ 3519 AIDC Sale Bill 1997— Second Reading ...................................... 3519 In Committee ........................................ 3528 Third Reading ....................................... 3535 Questions Without Notice— Media Ownership ..................................... 3535 Economy ........................................... 3536 Wallis Inquiry ....................................... 3537 Interest Rates ........................................ 3537 Social Security: Income Stream Products .................... 3538 Aboriginal Reconciliation ............................... 3539 Public Service: Wage Levels ............................. 3539 OECD: Multilateral Agreement on Investment ................. 3540 Public Servants: Authorisation of Expenditure ................. 3541 Youth Unemployment .................................. 3542 Mr David Oldfield .................................... 3543 Distinguished Visitors ................................... 3544 Questions Without Notice— Small Business ....................................... 3544 Taxation ........................................... 3545 Australian Broadcasting Corporation .......................
    [Show full text]
  • No Aircraft Noise Party Inc P.O
    Ms Winifred Southcott, President No Aircraft Noise Party Inc P.O. Box 613 Petersham 2049 Email: [email protected] Web site: noaircraftnoise.org.au Airport Regulation inquiry Productivity Commission Locked Bag 2 Collins Street East Victoria 8003 Dear Sir/ Madam, Written Submission Economic Regulation of Airports - Productivity Commission Draft (February 2019) This submission highlights that much of the information in the Draft Report is inadequate or incorrect which lead to invalid and socially unacceptable recommendations and conclusions of changing the environmental constraints and associated regulation on Sydney Airport without regard to impact on residents of Sydney. The absence of social and environmental objectives in the study (Draft Report, page 43-44) has lead to the unfair and incorrect conclusions as demonstrated by the inclusion of the aviation lobby issues (relaxing the Cap and Curfew) and not the issues nor the feedback of the community sector submissions which safeguard the quality of life in Sydney for over a million people. The equity objective which was only included in this review for regional NSW's access to Sydney Airport but was not included for the residents under the flight paths. This blatant omission of the equity objective for residents of Sydney has removed any objectivity in the conclusions and recommendations outlined in this report in regard to Sydney Airport. Rather the proposals and recommendations have been supplied by the aviation lobby. If you are going to place an airport in the centre of a city then social, environmental and equity objectives are paramount and MUST over-ride the efficiency objective. Release of this flawed Draft Report resulted in a number of media releases by the aviation lobby advocating for relaxing of the Sydney Airport Cap and Curfew for the benefit of airport efficiency and airline profits with the losers being the residents of Sydney.
    [Show full text]
  • Current State of the Law in Aircraft Noise Pollution Control
    Journal of Air Law and Commerce Volume 43 | Issue 4 Article 7 1977 Current State of the Law in Aircraft oiN se Pollution Control Mairin K. North Follow this and additional works at: https://scholar.smu.edu/jalc Recommended Citation Mairin K. North, Current State of the Law in Aircraft oN ise Pollution Control, 43 J. Air L. & Com. 799 (1977) https://scholar.smu.edu/jalc/vol43/iss4/7 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Law Journals at SMU Scholar. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Air Law and Commerce by an authorized administrator of SMU Scholar. For more information, please visit http://digitalrepository.smu.edu. CURRENT STATE OF THE LAW IN AIRCRAFT NOISE POLLUTION CONTROL MAnUN K. NORTH INTRODUCTION Noise, defined as "unwanted sound,"' has become a global prob- lem.' It is said that the United States is the noisiest country on the planet, with noise pollution reaching crisis proportions.3 There are countless sources of noise; construction equipment, industrial machinery, automobiles, and aircraft are some of the more glaring examples. There are many adverse effects, both physiological and behavioral, from noise; hearing loss or impairment, interference with sleep, fatigue, pain in the auditory systems, loss of equi- librium, stress and debilitating effect on human organs, speech interference, dream interruption, hindrance of concentrated mental effort, interference with task performance, annoyance and irrit- ability, interference with relaxation and recreation, and feelings of loss of privacy." Attention has been focused on aircraft noise abatement due to the severity of the problem In the United States approximately six million people live where the levels of aircraft noise create a signifi- cant annoyance." Further, approximately 600,000 of these citizens live in areas severely impacted by aircraft noise.' Other aspects of aircraft noise pollution which makes a solution desirable are its monetary cost to airport proprietors and the safety hazards caused by airport noise-abatement procedures.
    [Show full text]
  • Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences Research
    ISSN: 2634 - 8845 Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences Research Research Article Open Access An Assessment of the Impact of Helicopter Noise: Case Study of Mgbuoshimini Community Nigeria OF Orikpete1*, TG Leton1, VE Amah1 and DRE Ewim2 1Centre for Occupational Health, Safety and Environment, Institute of Petroleum Studies, University of Port Harcourt PMB 5323 Choba, Rivers State, Nigeria 2Nigeria Atomic Energy Commission, Abuja, Nigeria ABSTRACT With the projected growth in demand for commercial aviation, it is anticipated that there will be an increased environmental impact associated with noise, air quality, and climate change. Against this backdrop, the noise levels experienced by the residents of Mgbuoshimini Community due to helicopters take- off and landing were studied. The study was carried out for 14 days at three different locations using a Class 2 Optimus sound level meter from 7am to 5pm daily. Analysis involved the equivalent noise levels, statistical measures for the background noise, aircraft flyover noise as well as the Noise Gap Index (NGI) . It was found that the equivalent noise levels of the background noise and aircraft flyover noise range from 67.7 dBA to 72.4 dBA and 88.4 dBA to 88.6 dBA respectively. The peak background noise and aircraft flyover noise ranged from 69.17 dBA to 79 dBA and 93.2 dBA to 94.8 dBA respectively. These values exceeded the recommended value of 60 dBA for residential areas. Two models to determine the NGI for both low noise areas and high noise areas were developed. A correlation coefficient of 0.70 and 0.88 were obtained between the actual and predicted values of NGI for both low and high noise areas.
    [Show full text]
  • Aircraft Noise Pollution, Soundproofing, and Lagging House
    Aircraft Noise Pollution, Soundproofing, and Lagging House Price Adjustments: Evidence from the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport∗ Felix L. Friedty Jeffrey P. Cohenz Macalester College University of Connecticut Abstract Soundproofing of homes is one approach to mitigating the impacts of airport noise. A lack of available information on soundproofing, however, has limited the ability of researchers to utilize this as an identification strategy for estimating the causal impacts of noise on house prices. In this paper, we focus on Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport (MSP), and examine the airport noise impacts on housing prices by using two soundproofing initiatives for MSP as an identification strategy. We use information on properties that were eligible for soundproofing, after the soundproofing initiatives, to identify the causal impact of noise on house prices. We find that the magnitudes of the noise impacts on housing prices are approximately 2% per decibel, and are statistically significant. These findings hold up to a broad range of specifications and robustness checks. Our findings are the first known results that depend on using soundproofing eligibility to identify the causal impacts of noise on house prices. We also calculate an estimated return on investment (ROI) for residential soundproofing, and find that this ROI could reach as high as 40% in the areas around MSP. JEL codes: (R2, R3) Key words: Airport Noise, House Prices, Soundproofing, Abatement Policy ∗We gratefully acknowledge the financial support from the Macalester College Faculty Research fund. Thanks to Clemens Pilgram and Sarah West for generously sharing the home price and Census data and Andra Boca for excellent research assistance in preparing the airport noise data used in this study.
    [Show full text]
  • Traffic Noise and Housing Values: Evidence from an Airport Concession Renewal
    Traffic Noise and Housing Values: Evidence from an Airport Concession Renewal Samuel Lindgren – VTI CTS Working Paper 2018:15 Abstract Credible estimates of the cost of traffic noise are crucial to the assessment of the merits of noise control policies. This study estimates the cost of aircraft noise by measuring its capitalization into housing prices following an unexpected renewal of the operating contract for a local airport. The results show that a one decibel increase in aircraft noise leads to a reduction in housing values of 0.3 percent, or $1,200, on average. The capitalization rate is larger the higher is the property’s value, size and standard which suggest that owners of these houses benefit relatively more from noise abatement measures. Keywords: Noise Pollution, Value of Environmental Goods JEL Codes: Q51, Q53, R23, R31, R41 Centre for Transport Studies SE-100 44 Stockholm Sweden www.cts.kth.se Traffic Noise and Housing Values: Evidence from an Airport Concession Renewal∗ Samuel Lindgreny September 7, 2018 Abstract Credible estimates of the cost of traffic noise are crucial to the assessment of the merits of noise control policies. This study estimates the cost of aircraft noise by measuring its capitalization into housing prices following an unexpected renewal of the operating contract for a local airport. The results show that a one decibel increase in aircraft noise leads to a reduction in housing values of 0.3 percent, or $1,200, on average. The effect is larger the higher is the property’s value, size and standard which suggest that owners of these houses benefit relatively more from noise abatement measures.
    [Show full text]
  • Noise Mitigation Report
    APPENDIX Q COMMENTS AND RESPONSES ON THE NOISE MITIGATION REPORT Introduction The New York/New Jersey/Philadelphia (NY/NJ/PHL) Metropolitan Area Airspace Redesign Project (Redesign Project) presented the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) for public review and comment in the winter of 2006. The comments that were received on the DEIS were used to inform the selection of the Preferred Alternative. Many of these comments proposed noise mitigation strategies, which were evaluated for operational feasibility and potential for reduction of noise exposure. A Mitigated Preferred Alternative was presented to the public in April 2007, along with the results of the operational and noise analyses, for additional review and comment. This document contains the responses to the public comments on the Preferred Alternative and its mitigation. 40 CFR Section 1503.4 (Response to comments) requires that an agency preparing a Final EIS assess and consider comments both individually and collectively, and respond accordingly. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has the option to provide separate responses to individual comments identified in commenter’s letters or, where the volume of letters is so large or the nature of comments are similar, responses may be provided in a topical format. This appendix to the Final EIS provides responses in topical format. Comment letters and petitions received on the Preferred Alternative and mitigation strategies totaled over 1,700. Each of the comment letters and petitions were reviewed, and many similar
    [Show full text]