Valuing road noise for residents in Hong Kong

This study estimates the willingness-to-pay value for a one dB(A) change over a range of initial noise levels for a sample population in Hong Kong. it establishes a protocol for estimating the willingness-to-pay values by first establishing an annoyance-dB relationship. The protocol takes into account the characteristics that the probability of being annoyed at a particular level varied with the initial objective noise level, and the annoyance-dB relationship varied for a range of initial annoyance level. The study shows that household income level and initial annoyance levels exert considerable influences on the individual's willingness-to-pay values. However, age and educational level were found not to exert any significant influence on individual's willingness-to-pay values. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.