Foreword

Transport is a fundamental part of our everyday lives in Scotland, it supports everyone, whether for journeys to work or school, trips for recreation, or supporting industry and tourism. Correspondingly transport noise is an environmental problem with around 1.4 million people exposed to transport noise levels that could impact their health, and general wellbeing, and we are committed to managing this.

The National Transport Strategy sets out a vision for a transport system that meets everyone’s needs, respects our environment, and contributes to health, wellbeing, and sustainable economic growth. This includes our commitment to investing in efficient and sustainable transport which minimise emissions and consumption of resources and energy.

With these principles at the forefront, the Transport Noise Action Plan (TNAP) 2024 to 2028 sets out a range of, direct and indirect, actions we will take during the next 4 years, to reduce the impact of transport noise, building on the work we have taken forward in previous years.

The TNAP for Scotland brings together information on the population exposure to higher levels of environmental noise in major road and rail routes supporting the identification of Candidate Noise Management Areas (CNMA) to enable management of environmental noise in the areas most affected. It sets out the actions that will be taken by TS to work with stakeholders and the public to address transport noise related issues on major road and rail routes and ensure environmental noise consideration across wider Transport plans and strategies.

Publication of the TNAP 2024-2028 reaffirms Transport Scotland’s commitment to  minimising the impact of transport noise on the people of Scotland. We will continue to ensure noise management is integral to all transport related activities, across the spectrum of design, construction, and maintenance, collaborating with partner organisations to reduce noise levels in the most impacted areas through targeted action.

Alison Irvine
Transport Scotland
Chief Executive