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The paper starts with a brief overview of the impacts and perception of noise in the past in Europe. It has been well known for about 30 years that transport noise over critical levels causes serious annoyance. Moreover, recent epidemiological research indicates that it might also be responsible for a significant number of potentially fatal heart attacks. In the light of this knowledge, the transport noise protection policies of four European countries are analysed and compared with people's subjective perceptions and objective exposure. Results show that transport noise is one of the most significant environmental problems since about 18–20% of the population in those countries, as in the EU as a whole, suffer seriously from transport noise. Noise protection has in the past focused to a large extent on limiting emissions at the noise source. However, no binding noise standards at the immission point have been set. In the last decade this has changed in Germany, Switzerland and the Netherlands, where noise legislation has been differentiated into non‐binding standards for existing transport infrastructure and binding legislation for planned infrastructure. Looking at the policies that are available to comply with the standards, it is obvious that there is no "silver bullet" to solve the transport noise problem. Instead, the experience of those countries demonstrates that the fight against noise to ensure sustainable mobility can only be won by a comprehensive mix of policies, which require significant investments and, even more important, will take a long time.

Résumé Cet article commence par un aperçu des effets et de la perception du bruit ces dernières années en Europe. On sait depuis une trentaine d'années que le bruit des transports devient une véritable nuisance à partir de certains seuils critiques. De plus, selon des recherches épidémiologiques récentes, ce bruit pourrait aussi être à l'origine d'un certain nombre de crises cardiaques qui peuvent être mortelles. Compte tenu de ces connaissances, les politiques de protection contre le bruit des transports dans quatre pays européens sont analysées et comparées aux perceptions subjectives et à l'exposition objective des populations. Les résultats montrent que le bruit des transports est l'un des problèmes d'environnement les plus importants puisque environ 18 % à 20 % de la population de ces pays, comme dans l'Union européenne dans son ensemble, souffre gravement du bruit des transports. Bien que la lutte contre le bruit ait surtout porté jusqu'à maintenant sur les sources du bruit, aucune norme obligatoire n'a encore été fixée. Depuis une dizaine d'années, les choses ont changé en Allemagne, en Suisse et aux Pays-Bas, où la législation sur le bruit subi s'est diversifiée entre normes non contraignantes pour les infrastructures de transport existantes et une législation contraignante pour les infrastructures prévues. Si l'on examine les politiques mises en œuvre pour respecter ces normes, il est manifeste qu'il n'y a pas de solution « miracle » au problème du bruit des transports. L'expérience de ces pays montre plutôt que la lutte contre le bruit afin d'assurer des transports viables ne peut être gagnée qu'en adoptant un ensemble détaillé de politiques, qui nécessitent des investissements coûteux et qui prendront beaucoup de temps.

The paper starts with a brief overview of the impacts and perception of noise in the past in Europe. It has been well known for about 30 years that transport noise over critical levels causes serious annoyance. Moreover, recent epidemiological research indicates that it might also be responsible for a significant number of potentially fatal heart attacks. In light of this knowledge, the transport noise protection policies of four European countries are analyzed and compared with people's subjective perceptions and objective exposure. Results show that transport noise is one of the most significant environmental problems since about 18%-20% of the population in those countries, as in the EU as a whole, suffer seriously from transport noise. Noise protection has in the past focused to a large extent on limiting emissions at the noise source. However, no binding noise standards at the emission point have been set. In the last decade, this has changed in Germany, Switzerland, and the Netherlands, where noise legislation has been differentiated into non-binding standards for existing transport infrastructure and binding legislation for planned infrastructure. Looking at the policies that are available to comply with the standards, it is obvious that there is no silver bullet to solve the transport noise problem. Instead, the experience of those countries demonstrates that the fight against noise to ensure sustainable mobility can only be won by comprehensive mix of policies, which require significant investments and, even more important, will take a long time. 8 Tables, 4 Figures, 31 References. (Original abstract - amended)

The paper starts with a brief overview of the impacts & perception of noise in the past in Europe. It has been well known for about 30 years that transport noise over critical levels causes serious annoyance. Moreover, recent epidemiological research indicates that it might also be responsible for a significant number of potentially fatal heart attacks. In light of this knowledge, the transport noise protection policies of four European countries are analyzed & compared with people's subjective perceptions & objective exposure. Results show that transport noise is one of the most significant environmental problems since about 18%-20% of the population in those countries, as in the EU as a whole, suffer seriously from transport noise. Noise protection has in the past focused to a large extent on limiting emissions at the noise source. However, no binding noise standards at the emission point have been set. In the last decade, this has changed in Germany, Switzerland, & the Netherlands, where noise legislation has been differentiated into non-binding standards for existing transport infrastructure & binding legislation for planned infrastructure. Looking at the policies that are available to comply with the standards, it is obvious that there is no silver bullet to solve the transport noise problem. Instead, the experience of those countries demonstrates that the fight against noise to ensure sustainable mobility can only be won by comprehensive mix of policies, which require significant investments &, even more important, will take a long time. 8 Tables, 4 Figures, 31 References. Adapted from the source document.

Transportation contributes to roughly a fifth of greenhouse gas emissions, and as a growing sector of the economy, its contribution to climate change, if remained unchanged, could even grow. This is particularly true in the developing world, where the growth rates of air and ship transport are expected to exceed those of the EU, and worldwide objectives to curb greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 by sixty to eighty percent could be placed in serious jeopardy. This book addresses the key issues of controlling transportation growth and identifying and implementing measures that would significantly reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases from transport while maintaining its vital role in generating prosperity and mobility for future generations. This book describes the challenge that transport constitutes today as well as its role in the future for climate policy. It will discuss and provide hands-on suggestions for transportation policy that will mitigate the greenhouse gas emissions from transport. The book is organized into five parts. Part One presents an overview of transport and climate policy in the context of the recent economic crisis. Part Two examines the problems and proposed solutions for curbing emissions from transport in industrialized countries while Parts Three and Four deal with the developing world, with a particular focus on India and China. Part Five discusses tested solutions and provides policy recommendations making this book of interest to a broad audience of both policy-makers and academics concerned with the role of transport in reducing global climate change.