Press Release
- Water & Soil
Status of Motor Vehicle Traffic Noise in FY 2005
Ministry of the Environment compiled a report on the current status of motor vehicle traffic noise based on the result of the constant monitoring of motor vehicle traffic noise conducted in FY 2005.
As for the constant monitoring of motor vehicle traffic noise, prefectures and cities designated under the Noise Regulation Law are to monitor and report the status of motor vehicle traffic noise to the Ministry
1. The status of constant monitoring of motor vehicle traffic noise
Based on the monitoring data in FY 2005, the achievement of environmental quality standard was assessed for 2.914 million houses located along roads with total length of 13,985km (623km of expressways, 100km of urban expressways, 5,461km of national roads, 6,783km of prefectural roads, 909km of municipal roads with more than 4 lanes and 109km of other roads). The number subject to the assessment represents increases of 251 thousand houses and 663km of road length from FY2004 figures. Houses located within the range of 50m from roadside are to be assessed.
2. The achievement status of environmental quality standard
(1) Outlook
Out of 2.914 million houses assessed, 456 thousand houses (16% of the total houses assessed) exceeded the standard during either daytime (6am to 10pm) or night time (10pm to 6am), while 434 thousand houses (15%) exceeded the standard during night time. Out of 1.240 million houses located in the area bordering trunk roads, 317 thousand houses exceeded the standard during both daytime and night time, while 300 thousand houses (24 %) exceeded the standard during the night time. Though the differences among houses assessed every year need to be considered, the trend in the achievement of the environmental quality standard shows slow improvement in recent years.
(2) Status by road type
The national road marked the lowest ratio at 23 % (2.04 thousand out of 9.15 thousand houses) for the achievement of the environmental quality standard, both during daytime and night time hours, among all road types.
Information on the status of motor vehicle traffic noise is also available (in Japanese) on the web site "Motor Vehicle Noise Map" administered by the National Institute for Environmental Studies.
http://www-gis.nies.go.jp/noise/car/