Noisy Motorcycles and Barriers and Quieter Pavements for Traffic Noise Abatement: Summaries of Two TQA Workshops

In the Technology for a Quieter America report, motorcycles were mentioned three times, once in terms of standard test methods and twice in relation to community noise. In New York City, motorcycles placed in the top 10 bothersome noise sources identified by residents. Although there are regulated levels that manufacturers must meet, complaints about in-service motorcycle noise persist. To address this issue, a round table meeting was held in August 2012 with a broad spectrum of participants representing manufacturers, regulators, and other interested, knowledgeable engineers. In preparation of the TQA report, a workshop entitled Cost-Benefit Analysis (CBA) for Noise Control found that CBA was being applied in the area of traffic noise mitigation in regard to the use of barriers and/or quieter pavement. To address the particular CBA issues for this topic, a workshop was held in January 2014 with state and federal transportation officials and the research team responsible for the National Cooperative Highway Research Program NCHRP Report 738, Evaluating Pavement Strategies and Barriers for Noise Mitigation. The findings of these two meetings are summarized in this paper.