Transportation Sector Assessments and Tools
This tab provides climate science, vulnerability assessments, and tools for understanding climate change impacts to the water sector and potential adaptation options.
Resources are automatically presented by rating, but can also be sorted by date or title. Apply additional filters to narrow the list by resource type, region, and impact.
82 results are shown below.
Resource
2008
This report was published by the Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academies in order to provide guidance to federal, state and local transportation decision makers - with the intention of building the capacity to create adaptation strategies. It identifies ways transportation infrastructure, across different modes and in a variety of U.S. regions, will be impacted by climate change, and makes strategic recommendations.
Related Organizations: Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academies, The National Academies
Resource Category: Assessments
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Resource
September 28, 2016
From Rhode Island’s Statewide Planning Program, Technical Paper 167: “Vulnerability of Municipal Transportation Assets to Sea Level Rise and Storm Surge” analyzes the estimated geographic extent of sea level rise in relation to transportation infrastructure in the state over the next century. The study found that sea level rise presents a major challenge to Rhode Island’s transportation infrastructure, both via daily tidal flooding of coastal assets, and in making storm surge events more severe.
Related Organizations: State of Rhode Island
Resource Category: Assessments
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Resource
2012, 2018
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA's) Vulnerability Assessment and Adaptation Framework is a guide for use in analyzing the impacts of climate change and extreme weather on transportation infrastructure, assessing adaptation options, and modifying decisionmaking processes. The framework is designed to help identify key considerations, questions, and resources that can be used to develop and implement a climate change vulnerability assessment. The processes, lessons learned, and resources outlined in the framework are geared toward State departments of transportation (DOTs), metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), and other agencies involved in planning, building, or maintaining the transportation system.
Related Organizations: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
Resource Category: Assessments
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Resource
October 2014
The U. S. Department of Transportation's (USDOT) Center for Climate Change and Environmental Forecasting conducted a comprehensive, multi-phase study of climate change impacts on transportation in the Central Gulf Coast region. This report, led by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), represents the completion of the second phase of research on climate change impacts in the region. The Gulf Coast study initially looked at the potential impacts of climate change on transportation infrastructure in the region under a Phase 1 effort that was completed in 2008.
Related Organizations: U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Climate Change Center and Environmental Forecasting, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
Resource Category: Assessments
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Resource
October 2012
The Federal Highway Administration’s INVEST Tool (Tool) provides a collection of voluntary best practices (“criteria”) and associated point values to help transportation agencies and practitioners evaluate and improve the sustainability and climate resilience of their projects and programs. The Tool allows transportation agencies to evaluate the sustainability of their agency practices and projects across the entire transportation lifecycle, by self-assigning points based on how well they have met requirements set out for each particular criterion.
Related Organizations: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
Resource Category: Planning
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Resource
May 10, 2010
Developed by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), this report is intended to provide the transportation community (including highway engineers, planners, NEPA practitioners) with transparent, regional information on projected climate changes and effects that are most relevant to the U. S. highway system. This information is designed to inform assessments of the risks and vulnerabilities facing the current U. S. transportation system, and support planning and project development activities.
Related Organizations: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
Resource Category: Planning
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Resource
June 2009
This report is one of seven sector-specific chapters from the United States Global Change Research Program's 2009 National Climate Assessment, "Global Climate Change Impacts in the U. S. " The 'Transportation' chapter presents current and projected impacts to the U. S. transportation system from climate change. Primarily the effects of climate change on infrastructure, such as highways, air strips, and port facilities, are described in detail. Regional case studies demonstrating these types of impacts from extreme weather events in the recent past are included.
Related Organizations: U.S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP)
Resource Category: Assessments
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Resource
2015
The U.S. Department of Transportation's "Transportation Climate Change Sensitivity Matrix" is an Excel spreadsheet tool that includes detailed information about the sensitivity of different types of transportation assets to climate stressors. It is designed to be used in the process of assessing transportation system vulnerability to climate change, so that transportation agencies can properly prioritize assets for adaptation measures.
Related Organizations: U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
Resource Category: Data and tools
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Resource
May 2015
The Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commission of the Eastern Shore of Virginia, with support from the Virginia Department of Transportation, conducted a study in 2014 - 2015 to determine which transportation infrastructure in the Eastern Shore region is at risk to inundation from sea-level rise. This area is known to be extremely vulnerable to sea-level rise, and the research found that it will have increasingly significant impacts on transportation infrastructure, along with local communities, facilities, and economies.
Related Organizations: Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT), Accomack-Northampton Planning District Commission
Resource Category: Assessments
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Resource
2015
The U. S. Department of Transportation's Vulnerability Assessment Scoring Tool (VAST) is an Excel-based tool* designed to help transportation planners conduct a quantitative, indicator-based screening of transportation system vulnerabilities to climate stressors. It is intended for use by state departments of transportation (DOTs), metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), and other transportation organizations and agencies, to help these agencies efficiently assess vulnerabilities and prioritize assets.
Related Organizations: U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
Resource Category: Data and tools
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