Economic value of traffic noise reduction depending on residents’ annoyance level

Noise is the most frequently encountered type of environmental pollution in everyday life and has a direct negative effect on humans. Individuals who are constantly exposed to noise tend to have a high incidence of cardiovascular disease and hypertension. Noise sources range from construction sites to political rallies and assemblies, but traffic is one of the most long-lasting and chronic sources of noise. Previously, researchers have conducted valuations of road traffic noise reduction, but they did not consider residents’ annoyance levels in response to traffic noise. However, individuals’ annoyance levels affect the economic value of noise reduction policies and thus must be considered to obtain an accurate estimate. Therefore, this study investigated residents’ willingness to pay for traffic noise reduction depending on their annoyance level. We used the contingent valuation method and a survey to analyze how much 1022 respondents in Korea were willing to pay for noise reduction. We found that people who were annoyed and extremely annoyed by noise had a willingness to pay KRW 8422 (US $7.55) and KRW 9848 (US $8.83) annually per household, respectively, to reduce their annoyance level to zero. In addition, we determined the economic benefits of noise reduction policies using the respondents’ willingness to pay to reduce noise by 1 dB(A), which totaled KRW 3.28 billion (US $2.91 million) per year. The results of this study provide estimates of the annual benefits of traffic noise reduction considering residents’ annoyance level.