The objective of the DISTANCE project is to provide the National Road Authorities (NRAs) with informative guidelines to improve the optimisation of traffic noise abatement in the future on main road networks. First of all, the guidelines will help them to improve the quality of their noise maps. The project will outline which noise asset information should ideally be gathered and with what precision. These data can then serve as input for the CNOSSOS-EU calculation scheme that is expected to be used for future mapping under theEnvironmental Noise Directive. Accurate noise maps will also allow more reliable identification of areas where noise abatement is required.

The DISTANCE project will also focus on developing a vision for the future for noise abatement measures. Therefore, the future traffic and road network will be investigated based on factors such as the development of traffic volumes and composition, noise emission of cars and trucks, acoustic quality of tyres and low-noise pavements on the main road network.

Noise screens and pavements that are able to perfom additional functions can, in terms of whole life costs, potentially be cheaper. Lots of ideas and technologies have been launched and these will be reviewed and assessed by the DISTANCE consortium. This will assist NRAs in testing and investing in promising technologies and concepts and avoid wasting money on ideas that are likely to be unsuccessful.

There is as well a constant stream of ideas for novel noise abatement techniques such as new screen top devices, noise absorbing ditches, resonators under the pavement, screens with acoustic crystals, and new pavement types or construction techniques etc. Some ideas are promising and deserve further investigation whilst other ideas do not pass a single critical scientific assessment. The DISTANCE consortium proposes to make a comprehensive review of these new concepts/ideas/technologies and submit each of them to an independent and critical assessment. The DISTANCE project will help NRAs to avoid the use of technologies which have been proven not to work, despite some of these ideas being repeatedly investigated.

One way of reducing noise nuisance is to make use of the psychological aspects related to it. Research has been done and presented in this field, but very little has been done in practice with this knowledge. The DISTANCE consortium proposes to carry out a literature review about this subject and distill measures which can be used by NRAs, not to reduce the noise level but to reduce nuisance, which would equally be very valuable. The work will also use this information and other sources to develop concepts for how public awareness, understanding and acceptance of noise mitigation measures can be improved.