Published: October 2024 | Category: Healthy and safe people , Research programme , Research & reports | Audience: General
We know from existing research that road and rail noise is linked to negative effects on our health. Between 2020 and 2022, researchers of this study investigated this link to estimate just how much it costs the New Zealand economy. After uncovering credible evidence, researchers studied the cost of three health effects associated with exposure to road and rail noise: annoyance, sleep disturbance, and ischaemic heart disease. Researchers estimate that about $654 million is spent each year on these health effects resulting from road and rail noise. Road noise contributes to most of this cost at about $502 million a year.
This complex study required researchers to model the noise from New Zealand’s road and rail networks, and work out the size of the population affected by this noise. They then developed a model to estimate the health cost of transport noise related to each of the three health effects. Researchers tested the cost model to determine the potential range of the estimated costs.
Findings from this study make it easy to identify which parts of New Zealand are most affected by road and rail noise. The findings will also help stakeholders understand how people might be affected by a projected increase or decrease in exposure to transport noise.
Keywords:
cost, GIS, health, modelling, noise
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