Economic Benefits of Noise Reduction from Road Transport in Mountain Areas

Noise emissions are a relevant externality, which cause negative effects on affected population. Due to the topographic and physical characteristics of the geographical context, road transport in mountain areas is a main source of noise emissions. Adequate solutions have to be foreseen, able to reduce the impacts on affected population. First, this contribution describes alternative solutions to reduce the noise pressure along mountain roads. Then, it provides a method to evaluate their effectiveness based on a cost-effectiveness ratio and hedonic pricing. Two case studies located along a mountain road in South Tyrol (Italy) show the performances of different solutions in various contexts, suggesting the importance of evaluations that consider the territorial and settlement specificities.These results can be helpful for policy makers to define the most effective solutions to reduce transport externalities and to make mountain areas more liveable