On the Stability of Community Tolerance for Aircraft Noise

Abstract

Although aircraft noise-induced annoyance prevalence rates vary greatly for similar noise exposure levels in different times and places, some suggest that communities have recently reacted more strongly to aircraft noise than in the past. Others regard claims of greater annoyance over time at similar exposure levels as inconclusive. The current study examined Community Tolerance Level (CTL) values for aircraft noise annoyance studies for temporal trends in 62 studies conducted between 1961 and 2015. The airports studied were classified as "high-rate-of-change" (HRC) and "low-rate-of-change" (LRC) airports. HRC airports experienced large changes in their operational patterns within three years prior to interviewing, or announcement of controversial plans for major changes, and/or extensive public discussions and media focus on operational issues. LRC airports experienced only minor changes in operations and no major noise-related controversies. No significant temporal trend in CTL values was observed over the past 50 years. However, lower tolerance for noise was observed in communities around HRC airports than in communities around LRC airports. Greater numbers of surveys of annoyance at HRC airports in recent years confound differences in CTL values with recency of assessment