Assessment of Fluctuations in Traffic Noise Levels with Simultaneous Traffic Density
Manoj M. Yadav1, Bhaven N. Tandel2

1Manoj M. Yadav*, Ph.D scholar, Civil Engineering Department, Sardar Vallbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat, India.
2Bhaven N. Tandel, Assiatant professor, Civil engineering department, Sardar Vallbhai National Institute of Technology, Surat, India.
Manuscript received on January 13, 2020. | Revised Manuscript received on January 23, 2020. | Manuscript published on February 10, 2020. | PP: 493-498 | Volume-9 Issue-4, February 2020. | Retrieval Number: D1212029420/2020©BEIESP | DOI: 10.35940/ijitee.D1212.029420
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© The Authors. Blue Eyes Intelligence Engineering and Sciences Publication (BEIESP). This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Abstract: Transportation is one of the important pillars of the nation’s economic and overall growth. As transportation is very important, it has its negative impacts on the environment as well as human health. One of its negative impacts is traffic noise pollution. This paper focuses on the study of the relation between traffic density and an increase or decrease in noise levels. The study has been conducted in Surat city, India (tier 2). The noise levels were monitored in a total of 5 stretches and 12 locations of a busy commercial area of Surat city for the day time. Traffic count was done in the form of 2 wheelers, 3 wheelers, 4 wheelers, bus, and trucks. It was found that noise levels in the area are 77dBA, which is higher than the permissible standards set by the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) in the Government of India. Also, the study indicates that, if the number of vehicles is increasing, it is not necessary that the equivalent noise level should increase and vice versa, because noise levels are dependent on a lot of other factors like traffic flow, honking of horns, lane indiscipline, unauthorized parking, heterogeneity of vehicles in traffic. Heterogeneous nature of traffic in India and lane indiscipline by vehicle users, traffic often gets congested which results in honking of horns. Traffic noise levels are not always directly proportional to traffic count, they may fluctuate very randomly, due to reasons enumerated above. 
Keywords: Traffic Noise, Leq, Heterogeneous Traffic, Lane Indiscipline, Unauthorized Parking, Honking of Horns.
Scope of the Article: Network Traffic Characterization and Measurements