Traffic noise is often far more complex than simply “cars being loud”. Major roads create constantly changing acoustic environments shaped by speed, vehicle behaviour, road surfaces and the surrounding urban landscape. This article explores why motorways, arterial roads and suburban streets sound so different, how electric vehicles are beginning to change urban soundscapes, and why the way we experience traffic noise is often shaped more by change and attention than loudness

Why certain sounds suddenly stand out? I grew up near a family-owned service station in Bangkok, Thailand, so the sounds of these environments have been familiar to me for most of my life. Early morning deliveries, the constant flow of traffic during the day, vehicles arriving late at night, refrigeration equipment humming in the background and the changing rhythm of activity throughout the day were simply part of the everyday soundscape. Looking back now as an acoustic consu