City Traffic Sound Effects
56 city traffic beds, each heard from a specific spot: a tenth-floor window, a crosswalk, a tunnel mouth, the underside of a viaduct, the edge of a truck route or a hilltop above the skyline.
You're free to use these sounds. License
Steel Bridge Cars
Downtown Noon Murmur
Crosswalk Flow
Park Edge Engines
Truck Route Rumble
Far Intersection Wash
Freeway Behind Barrier
Taxi Rank Idle
Fifth Floor Balcony
Rooftop City Hum
Tenth Floor Window
Parking Deck Echo
Underpass Rumble
Hilltop City View
Skyline Wide Hum
Lakeside Drive Tires
Business District Wash
Boulevard Both Ways
Construction Far
Alley Mouth Passing
Subway Grate Rumble
Viaduct Light Flow
Industrial Belt Drone
Midtown Noon Vehicles
Low Terrace Evening
Inner Loop Expressway
Fuel Station Passing
Glass Tower Canyon
Stone Plaza Distance
Market Hall Carts
Night Bus Route
Warehouse Yard Trucks
City Gate Crossing
Tunnel Mouth Roar
Residential Distant Hum
Dusk Boulevard Flow
Old Stone Bridge
Rail Yard Edge
Old Quarter Rumble
Station Forecourt Wash
Hill Tunnel Interior
Dense Quarter Wash
Deep City Ambience
Factory Gate Trucks
Campus Gate Flow
Shopping Row Distance
Glass Plaza Edge
Back Alley Distance
About city traffic sound effects
City traffic sounds like a continuous wash of tires and engines: a broad hiss with a low rumble underneath. Close to the road you can still pick out single cars; a block away they blur into one steady roar, and from high up the whole city softens into an even hum.
Surfaces change it a lot. Glass towers and concrete canyons add echo, tunnels and underpasses boom, and a wet road puts a sticky hiss on every tire. People call it the hum, roar or drone of traffic. These clips are built without horns, sirens or voices, which keeps them neutral and easy to cut.
Which one to pick
High up and far away
Fifth Floor Balcony, Tenth Floor Window, Rooftop City Hum and Hilltop City View are distant and smooth, the safest choice under dialogue.
Street level
Crosswalk Flow, Boulevard Both Ways and Roundabout Corner put you right beside the cars, and Lakeside Drive Tires runs on a wet road.
Enclosed and reflected
Hill Tunnel Interior, Tunnel Mouth Roar, Underpass Rumble and Parking Deck Echo are boomy, and Subway Grate Rumble adds a train passing under the street.
Heavy vehicles
Truck Route Rumble, Industrial Belt Drone and Warehouse Yard Trucks are lower and rougher, while Bus Depot Idling and Taxi Rank Idle bring idling engines.
Old town
Old Quarter Rumble and Old Stone Bridge sit behind walls and stone, for a quieter historic center.
Uses
- Film and videoTenth Floor Window under an apartment scene, Crosswalk Flow behind a street interview cutaway.
- GamesA city level that changes with height, from Underpass Rumble at street level to Rooftop City Hum on the roof.
- Podcasts and audio dramaResidential Distant Hum gives a room an open window onto the city without pulling focus.
- Talks on urban lifeResidential Distant Hum next to Truck Route Rumble illustrates the gap between a quiet side street and a freight corridor.
File details
- −1 dBFS
- MP3 320 kbps stereo