Transportation: noise action plan

2 Introduction

2.1 What is noise and why is noise an issue?

Environmental noise is defined as '…unwanted or harmful outdoor sound created by human activities, including noise emitted by means of transport, road traffic, rail traffic, air traffic, and from sites of industrial activity' ^{[1] [2]} . Placed into context, transportation noise is the biggest source of environmental noise in Scotland

Noise may negatively impact on speech, sleep, music or sounds of nature. These elements contribute in various degrees to most people's quality of life but disturbance, masking or detraction of these positive elements can lead to annoyance. Noise can also have economic impacts by potentially affecting tourism, learning/studying and workplace productivity.

2.2 Noise and health

The Scottish Government is committed to understanding and managing the environmental impact of our transport network. We acknowledge that noise can be distressing, affects our quality of life and can impact on our health ^[3] and environment. Attitudes to noise are changing and it has been suggested that people are becoming less tolerant with their noise environment.

The assessment of noise and noise annoyance is a complex process and different [transport] noise sources affect people in different ways. Whilst WHO (2011) suggest that there is sufficient evidence from large-scale epidemiological studies linking the population's exposure to environmental noise with adverse health effects, others suggest some effects may occur only in a susceptible minority of the population ^[4] . This issue is an ongoing area of research. Recent research suggests that annoyance and sleep disturbance may be the most significant impacts of noise.

2.3 Scope of the Noise Action Plan

The Scottish Noise Action Plans describe how the Scottish Government has worked with relevant stakeholders in identifying potential options for noise management, as discussed in Section 3.1. This Transportation Noise Action Plan is one of a set of Noise Action Plans covering the following areas:

• The Aberdeen Agglomeration Noise Action Plan
• The Dundee Agglomeration Noise Action Plan
• The Edinburgh Agglomeration Noise Action Plan
• The Glasgow Agglomeration Noise Action Plan
• The Transportation Noise Action Plan
• The Aberdeen Airport Noise Action Plan
• The Edinburgh Airport Noise Action Plan
• The Glasgow Airport Noise Action Plan

2.4 Strategic Noise Mapping and Action Planning

Strategic noise maps ^[5] for END Round 2 (for 2012) were produced on behalf of the Scottish Government by AECOM consultants. Noise maps for Round 2 were produced by a computer based prediction methodology and can be found on the Scottish Noise Mapping website at www.scottishnoisemapping.org. Utilising the most up to date available data, population exposure levels derived from the maps were submitted by the Scottish Government to Europe on the 20 December 2012.

As outlined in Table 1, Round 2 of END requires 'places near' ^[6] major roads with more than three million vehicle passages a year and places near major railways which have more than thirty thousand train passages per year to be included in the mapping and action planning. This criteria defines the scope of this transportation noise action plan. Key differences in scope between Round 1 and Round 2 of END are outlined in Table 1.

Table 1 - Differences between Round 1 and Round 2 of the END with respect to transportation. Note that Airport transportation noise is covered in a specific Airports Noise Action Plan. Round 2 will cover corridors across the Scottish Trunk Road Network ^[7] , Rail Network ^[8] and local authority networks ^[9]

The noise mapping process identified sections across a number of transport corridors that fall within the Round Two Transportation Action Planning Process. These corridors are shown in Appendix 1.

As a result of the noise mapping, Tables 2a and 2b show the estimated number of people exposed to noise during the END Round 2 mapping, with comparison to the END Round 1 data.

Table 2a - Population exposure from major roads outwith the agglomerations as mapped for END

Table 2b - Population exposure from rail as mapped for END

Noise from local roads is covered within the respective agglomeration action plans noted in Section 2.2. Thus, local road population exposure is not detailed in Table 2a.

As the published noise contours give a strategic level representation of the modelled noise climate for the areas mapped in Scotland, the resulting Action Plans must also be of a strategic level in nature, whilst complying with the minimum requirement of END Annex 5. The noise maps cannot be used to determine the noise level at any specific property. With this point in mind, it is essential to note the following points:

• A noise map is analogous to a weather map in that it maps strategic noise levels in terms of coloured contour bands at 5dB noise contour intervals. Strategic noise levels show annual average noise levels.
• The noise contours are not receptor-specific levels experienced on the ground. Rather, the noise levels are calculated on the basis of a 10m grid at a height of 4m above ground level. They do not represent levels at ground - or typical human ear - level ^[10] .

Initial analysis of the noise map, using the Prioritisation Matrix (see Section 5), provides a focus for deriving actions to manage noise by identifying Candidate Noise Management Area ( CNMA) (as described in Section 6). The CNMAs may subsequently progress into a Noise Management Area ( NMA) status (as described in Section 6). Between 2013 and 2018, the NMAs ^[11] will be the primary consideration when formulating environmental noise management actions/policy following the actions listed in this Transportation Noise Action Plan (in line with PAN 1 (2011)).

The process listed above follows the Technical Guidance ^[12] published by the Scottish Government during END Round 1.