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Annex
H1 Baseline Issues for Exposure to Transport in Hong
Kong
In
the Hong Kong context, the most important transport
related noise sources are from road traffic, aircraft
movements and rail transport. The determination of exposure
to excessive transport related noise is guided by the
relevant established noise standards.
Under
the Hong Kong Planning Standards and Guidelines (HKPSG),
a standard of 70 dB(A) (measured as L10 (1hour)) has
been set for road traffic noise. The standard requires
that noise levels at residential uses should not exceed
this 70 dB(A) limit. The Third Comprehensive Transport
Study (CTS-3), completed in 1999, has estimated that
429,000 people are affected by excessive road traffic
noise. The CTS-3 study only examined around 200 selected
road sections across the territory and thus the findings
are not fully representative of the overall road traffic
noise exposure situation in Hong Kong.
Representative
findings may however be drawn from Environment Hong
Kong 1998, published by EPD, in which it is estimated
that there are approximately 1,000,000 people affected
by severe road traffic noise.
The
HKPSG recommends that, for planning against aircraft
noise, residential premises should not be located within
the Noise Exposure Forecast (NEF) 25 contours. In choosing
to construct the new airport at Chek Lap Kok, the potential
annoyance associated with aircraft noise has been taken
into account during the site selection process. With
the Chek Lap Kok Airport in full operation, only a relatively
small number (about 200) of people are living within
the NEF 25 contours and thereby exposed to excessive
aircraft noise.
Rail
noise is controlled under statutory criteria associated
with the Noise Control Ordinance (NCO). With all new
railway lines planned and designed in accordance with
such established criteria and the few problem spots
along existing railway lines being progressively addressed
through mitigation works such as new noise barriers,
the number of people exposed to excessive rail noise
is decreasing. Rail noise in Hong Kong is therefore
not considered to be an environmental noise issue of
significance for the SUSDEV 21 noise indicator in the
medium to long term.
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