AN INVESTIGATION OF COMMUNITY RESPONSETO URBAN TRAFFIC NOISE

Traffic noise is a major environmental source of pollution in the whole planet, both in developed and in developing nations. The study being reported here has been carried out on one of the most busy and crowded streets in the downtown area of Kerman, located in south east of Iran, which have heavy traffic during the day. Total of 20 measuring points were selected along the main road and its 6 connecting streets. In this study the A-weighted continuous equivalent sound level values and statistical levels were manually measured at each site separately. The noise equivalent level varied between 66 to 79.5 dBA. The results of the study established the fact that noise levels are more than the acceptable limit of 60 dBA, which is the daytime governmentally prescribed noise limit for residential-commercial areas. This paper also describes the reaction of the environmental noise of the city of Kerman. A total of 250 questionnaires were processed. The results of the interview questionnaire revealed the following items; (I) the main isolated noise source was traffic (50%) and street noise (34%); (II) 70% of the people classified the noise in his/her street as "very high"; (III) 52% and 48% of the respondents answered that noise bother them more in morning and evening, respectively; (IV) 86% and 86.8% of the subjects answered that traffic noise produce physicsl and psychological annoyance to them; (V) the main outcomes of exposure to noise were: irritability (40.8%), insomnia (24%), difficulty in concentrating (16%) and conservation disruption (16%).