Traffic noise as the worst form of noise pollution

  Almost one and a half million Austrians have named traffic noise as the worst form of noise pollution, a new survey has revealed, Austrian Times reported.

  The Austrian Traffic club (VCÖ) said today (Tues) 1.45 million Austrians over the age of 15 cited traffic noise as the worst noise pollution they encountered.

  Noise caused by neighbours trailed in second with 345,000 saying it annoyed them the most of all noise followed by construction noise (273,000) aviation noise (113,000) and noise caused by trains (127,000) and trams (38,000).

The VCO said: Introducing low speed areas are the most effective method of reducing traffic noise.

  The body argued cars travelling 80 kilometres per hour on an expressway appear to make half the volume of noise of vehicles going 100kph.

  Only last week, the People’s Party (ÖVP) in Vienna called for a network of tunnels throughout the city to reduce traffic jams and noise pollution.

  The party’s traffic spokesman Wolfgang Gerstl said up to 20 kilometres of streets should be relocated underground at busy intersections in the city.

Rudiger Maresch, environment spokesman for the Greens in Vienna, called the OVP plans absurd and not elaborate, arguing that tunnels would only cost a lot of money but also fail to reduce the number of cars on the capital’s roads.

Source: Transportweekly