Aircraft noise patterns in the Bay Area. (Image: DOT)
As you sit back in your seat watching the ground drop away, did you ever stop to think about the impact of your flight on the people below?
Aircraft noise isn’t as bad as it was in past decades thanks to new, quieter engines, but it’s still a big issue for many people who live around major airports or on flight paths into and out of those airports.
And now the Transportation Department has come out with an interactive tool to demonstrate exactly where the sound emitted from aircraft have the biggest impact on surrounding cities and towns.
Atlanta-area aircraft noise shows an interesting symmetry. (Image: DOT)
With DOT’s new National Transportation Noise Map, users can zoom into various cities and study the color coding to see the worst areas for aircraft noise in major metro areas.
If you live on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, for instance, you may have noticed that aircraft coming into LaGuardia tend to fly north up the Hudson River, then turn sharply right at about 96th Street to make their approach. And there on the map is a bright red area along 96th Street, where the noise is the loudest.
DOT estimates that only a very small percentage – a fraction of one percent – of the population is regularly exposed to really loud noise from airport traffic. Still, if you’re sensitive to that kind of thing, it might be worth your while to study DOT’s interactive maps in detail before you move to a new house or apartment.
Here are a few more major metro areas:
The New York area’s multiple airports create complex noise patterns. (Image: DOT)
Jet sounds around LAX go from deep red into purple- note the other LA basin airports, too. (Image: DOT)
X marks the spot for Chicago Midway traffic; O’Hare is more complex. (Image: DOT)
Check out the problem where you live….or most frequently fly here: National Transportation Noise Map,
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