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Dear Noise Project Supporter,
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We know that you’re sick of receiving Noise Project e-mails about noise cameras in such quick succession, but Rhode Island political culture seems to dictate that cramming all of its legislative business into the first few months of the year is the best way to make public policy.
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This time it’s the Providence City Council Finance Committee’s review of Mayor Smiley’s latest budget proposal, which is notable for its allocation of $100,000 to deploy noise cameras to address excessive and illegal volume levels from motor vehicles — especially deliberate noise produced by modified mufflers and over-amplified audio systems.
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As we mentioned in our previous messages, the data that Providence residents provide the Noise Project through our Community Noise Survey and contact form indicate that roughly 93% of them are exposed to unhealthy and unnecessary vehicle noise — making it the single most prevalent source of noise in the city.
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So we’re asking residents who support noise cameras as a means of addressing mobile noise sources to testify in favor of the mayor’s budget — specifically, that budget item — in person at the Finance Committee hearing on Tuesday, May 7, at 5:30 p.m. in the City Council Chamber (3rd Floor) at 25 Dorrance Street in Providence. (The deadline for written testimony was Friday at 3:00 p.m.) Committee Chair Helen Anthony has allotted an entire 15 minutes for the public hearing, but we suspect that may run over. Needless to say, leave yourself time to get through security and walk to the hearing room.
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Your testimony time will be very brief, but here are some potential talking points:
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- Your experience of vehicle noise — Tell them how often you hear it, the times of day (e.g., overnight / early in the morning), and how it disrupts your sleep and / or other quiet enjoyment of your homes (conversation, TV, etc), including outside.
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Noise cameras are essentially the same as the speed cameras and red-light cameras already in use in Providence — and far less intrusive than the Flock license-plate readers the City Council already approved under former mayor Elorza.
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- Noise cameras don’t require hiring additional police officers or diverting existing ones from other enforcement efforts — As is true of speed cameras and red-light cameras, they are a more cost-effective way for the city to address a long-standing public health and safety issue, while saving city residents money.
- Noise cameras are triggered by intrusive noise that exceeds legal levels. Without some way to address it, the status quo of deliberately disruptive noise from a relatively small cohort of vehicles will continue to disrupt the sleep, health, and well-being of residents throughout the city on a daily basis — and remain far more intrusive than the reasonable efforts the mayor is proposing to curtail it.
- Noise cameras actually reduce claims of biased enforcement of motor-vehicle regulations — Again, like speed cameras and red-light cameras, the use of technology eliminates opportunities for bias based on drivers’ appearance, types of vehicles, or types of sound by relying solely on sensors that measure decibel levels.
If you cannot attend the hearing in person but would like watch it remotely, it will be streamed on Zoom and YouTube. And even though the deadline for written testimony has passed, you can always send your comments in support of the mayor’s budget allocation for noise cameras directly to the members of the Finance Committee:
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- Helen Anthony, chair (Ward 2) — ward2@providenceri.gov, helen@helenanthony.com
- James Taylor (Ward 8) — ward8@providenceri.gov
- Sue Anderbois (Ward 3) — ward3@providenceri.gov, anderbois.ward3@gmail.com
- Miguel Sanchez (Ward 6) — ward6@providenceri.gov
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The all-volunteer Noise Project recently created a Vehicle Noise working group to address mobile noise sources in the city, and welcomes residents who want collaborate in that effort.
If you’re interested in helping to implement or promote any of the strategies described above — or devising alternative ones — please let us know using the volunteer form on our website.
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We appreciate your support for reducing noise in the city, and for the Noise Project’s
efforts to make our community a quieter and healthier place to live and work.
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“Noise is the new smoking”
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