Published: 1998 | Category: Activity management , Research programme , Research & reports | Audience: General
Literature on the monetary valuation of the environmental effects of roads and road traffic on adjoining residential land use is reviewed. The application of an hedonic pricing method linking house price differences with traffic noise disturbances is explored for an Auckland suburb. It is concluded that more detailed information on property characteristics, traffic flows and noise exposure and more advanced multivariate analysis would be needed to progress this technique further. However, the literature review leads to a recommended indicative value for traffic noise disturbance of 0.4 to 0.5% of house value per 1 dBA increase in the energy mean sound level (Leq).
A contingent valuation method survey is developed to a pilot stage. The survey context is the house owner's willingness to pay to avoid traffic disturbance in the context of moving to a new property. Traffic disturbance is described in general terms involving attributes of traffic volume, property screening and building set-back from the road boundary.
A review of literature on the monetary valuation of the severance effect of roads on local communities is reported and recommendations made on a possible approach for including this intangible in a cost benefit analysis framework.
Keywords: intangibles, traffic, noise, environment, valuation, severance, barrier effect
