HIGHWAY NOISE CRITERIA STUDY: TECHNICAL SUMMARY

This report summarizes, at the request of the Federal Highway Administration, a multifaceted research program carried out by the acoustics staff of the National Bureau of Standards. The program was designed to (1) identify and quantify the important physical parameters associated with time-varying highway noise caused by various densities of both free-flowing and stop-and-go traffic conditions; (2) investigate, evaluate and compare measures and computational procedures for rating time-varying noise in terms that are relevant to human response; and (3) determine by means of a laboratory study which among several time-varying rating schemes best predicts the acceptability and annoyance caused by traffic noise as heard both outdoors and indoors. The results of this program are briefly described and the implications of the major findings discussed.