Abstract:With a detailed model of the cost of motor vehicle noise in the United States in 1990, we estimate that the external damage cost of this noise could range from as little as $100 million per year to as much as $40 billion per year, although we believe that the cost is not likely to exceed $5 billion (1991$). Our base-case estimate is $3 billion. The wide range is due primarily to uncertainty regarding the cost of noise per decibel above a threshold, the interest rate, the amount of noise attenuation due to ground cover and intervening structures, the threshold level below which damages are assumed to be zero, the density of housing alongside roads, average traffic speeds, and the cost of noise away from the home.