Effect of Pavement Roughness on Arterial Noise Using Different Vehicle Types

For a healthy and sustainable environment, it is necessary to reduce the negative impact of noise on neighborhoods adjacent to arterials. The development of the automotive industry, the introduction of hybrid and electric vehicles, and improvements to vehicle bodies have made tire–pavement interaction the primary source of noise at regular traffic speeds. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of pavement surface condition on noise levels for different vehicles, including gasoline, hybrid, electric vehicles, and a single-unit truck. Both interior and exterior noises were measured along rural and urban arterials. The exterior noise was measured using the controlled pass-by method. The results of the analysis indicated that pavement roughness and traffic speed had significantly influenced the interior noise level. It was found that the relationship between interior noise and vehicle speed, and pavement roughness is linear. Compared to gasoline car, hybrid and electric cars may reduce interior noise by 7 and 11 dB(A), respectively. For rural arterials and speeds of 80 km/h, exterior noise was strongly affected by pavement roughness. Analysis of exterior noise on urban arterials at 50 and 60 km/h speeds showed that pavement roughness has a significant impact on the noise level. In contrast, the noise analysis under two-speed levels, which are too close to each other, did not help in capturing the impact of speed on exterior noise. Therefore, further studies are recommended to highlight this issue. For a sustainable and healthy environment, it is vital to keep the pavement in good condition and increase the proportion of electric and hybrid cars in the vehicle fleet.