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.
79 results are shown below.
Resource
May 2015
The National Park Service (NPS) produced this report assessing assets in coastal parks that may be threatened by a future one-meter rise in sea level. Over 10,000 assets were evaluated, including roads and trails, and 39 percent of assets (or $40 billion worth) in 40 coastal parks were designated as “high exposure. ” The report was intended to provide an overview of NPS' exposure to sea-level rise, but was not designed to inform decision-making about specific assets at the park-level. The analysis provides a methodology for assessing exposure of systems at a national or regional scale.
Related Organizations: National Park Service (NPS)
Resource Category: Assessments
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Resource
2015
The International Climate Change Adaptation Framework for Road infrastructure (Framework) was developed by the World Road Association to help the road authorities in member countries develop consistent approaches for assessing climate change effects on road networks and identify appropriate measures to reduce climate risks to transportation infrastructure. The Framework guides authorities through a series of steps to help them assess the risks to transportation infrastructure, prioritize assets for adaptive response, develop strategies to respond to climate risks, and integrate assessment findings into transportation decisionmaking processes.
Related Organizations: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
Resource Category: Planning
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Resource
November 19, 2014
The Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority (CCJPA) conducted a sea-level rise vulnerability assessment for the corridor’s rail assets and is incorporating those findings into the agency’s Vision Plan, identifying sea-level rise as a critical issue in long-term planning and investments. The Capitol Corridor, which is managed but not owned by the CCJPA, serves as the primary public transportation connection between the Sacramento metropolitan area and the San Francisco Bay Area. Large stretches of the corridor run along waterfronts and through marshlands and other areas that will be increasingly vulnerable to inundation and flooding during storm events as sea levels rise.
Related Organizations: Capitol Corridor Joint Powers Authority
Resource Category: Planning
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Resource
January 2015
The U.S. Department of Transportation conducted the Gulf Coast Study to better understand the range of potential climate change impacts on transportation infrastructure and identify possible strategies for adapting infrastructure. It was conducted in two major phases, starting with Phase 1 (completed in 2008), and ending with the completion of Phase 2 in 2015.
Related Organizations: U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
Resource Category: Assessments
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Resource
December 2014
In 2014 the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) completed a study which assessed the vulnerability of the state’s transportation infrastructure to climate change and natural disasters. The Federal Highway Administration sponsored the report as part of a its Climate Change Resilience Pilot Program which assessed climate impacts for a number of states' transportation systems, and developed feasible adaptation strategies. As part of Oregon’s case study, ODOT, whose Adaptation Work Group provided guidance throughout the process, developed new sea level rise maps, collected baseline data, and used a case study to learn from existing coastal hazard mitigation projects - all of which are detailed in the report.
Related Organizations: Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT)
Resource Category: Assessments
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Resource
June 2015
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) commissioned a pilot project to assess climate change vulnerability of the Central Artery and Tunnel System (CA/T) for the City of Boston, Massachusetts in 2013 - 2015. Through sea level rise and storm surge modeling for Boston, the study found that this critical transportation system is highly vulnerable to flooding. The pilot team developed adaptation strategies for current and future implementation, and initiated an emergency response plan for tunnel protection.
Related Organizations: Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
Resource Category: Assessments
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Resource
January 2015
Led by the Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO) and the City of Austin, this assessment is one of 19 national projects funded by the Federal Highway Administration to pilot approaches to conduct climate change and extreme weather vulnerability assessments of transportation infrastructure, and to analyze options for adapting and improving resiliency. Using the Department of Transportation’s Vulnerability Assessment Scoring Tool, the report evaluates the vulnerability of nine critical transportation assets – including Austin’s MetroRail Red Line and interstate highways – to climate stressors such as flooding, drought, extreme heat, wildfire, and icing.
Related Organizations: Capital Area Metropolitan Planning Organization (CAMPO), City of Austin Office of Sustainability
Resource Category: Assessments
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Resource
July 2015
The Cape Cod Commission (“Commission”) has begun to systematically consider the long-range impacts of climate change as it works to guide regional transportation- and development-planning efforts for an iconic but vulnerable area of coastal Massachusetts. The Commission is responsible for directing regional land-use policy, regulating developments whose impacts cross town boundaries, and supporting the 15 Cape Cod municipalities that make up Barnstable County with planning and technical expertise.
Related Organizations: Cape Cod Commission
Resource Category: Planning
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Resource
October 2011
The Federal Triangle Stormwater Drainage study analyzed the causes of a 2006 flood event that put the Federal Triangle Area of Washington D. C. under up to 3 feet of water, including several major traffic arteries, tunnels, and subway stations. The Study analyzes possible alternatives to reducing the risk of interior drainage flooding, including permeable pavements and other Low Impact Development (LID) techniques. In considering the causes of flooding in the area, the Study uses the 200-year flood as a proxy for assessing how climate change may increase flood risks and the frequency of severe storm events.
Related Organizations: National Park Service (NPS)
Resource Category: Assessments
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Resource
2015
The Mid-Region Council of Governments of New Mexico (MRCOG) is integrating climate change analysis into long-range transportation and land use planning through the Central New Mexico Climate Change Scenario Planning Project. MRCOG partnered with federal land management agencies, the U. S. Department of Transportation Volpe Center, and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to plan for a regional reduction in future greenhouse gas emissions, and to prepare for the potential impacts of climate change.
Related Organizations: John A. Volpe National Transportation System Center, Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), National Park Service (NPS)
Resource Category: Planning
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