title: Role of community tolerance level (CTL) in predicting the prevalence of the annoyance of road and rail noise.
abstract: Fidell et al. [(2011), J. Acoust. Soc. Am. 130(2), 791-806] have shown (1) that the rate of growth of annoyance with noise exposure reported in attitudinal surveys of the annoyance of aircraft noise closely resembles the exponential rate of change of loudness with sound level, and (2) that the proportion of a community highly annoyed and the variability in annoyance prevalence rates in communities are well accounted for by a simple model with a single free parameter: a community tolerance level (abbreviated CTL, and represented symbolically in mathematical expressions as L(ct)), expressed in units of DNL. The current study applies the same modeling approach to predicting the prevalence of annoyance of road traffic and rail noise. The prevalence of noise-induced annoyance of all forms of transportation noise is well accounted for by a simple, loudness-like exponential function with community-specific offsets. The model fits all of the road traffic findings well, but the prevalence of annoyance due to rail noise is more accurately predicted separately for interviewing sites with and without high levels of vibration and/or rattle.
authors.affiliation: Schomer and Associates, Inc, 2117 Robert Drive, Champaign, Illinois 61821, USA.
authors.forename: Paul
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schomer
authors.forename: Vincent
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Mestre
authors.forename: Sanford
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Fidell
authors.forename: Bernard
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Berry
authors.forename: Truls
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Gjestland
authors.forename: Michel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Vallet
authors.forename: Timothy
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Reid
mesh_terms: D001294:Attitude to Health; D001336:Automobiles; D004781:Environmental Exposure / Q000009:adverse effects; D006801:Humans; D008144:Loudness Perception / Q000502:physiology; D009624:Noise, Transportation / Q000009:adverse effects*; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D011639:Public Opinion; D011890:Railroads; D013997:Time Factors; D014732:Vibration