Transportation Sector Case Studies
These resources include case studies of adaptation in the transportation sector, developed by the Georgetown Climate Center as part of a cooperative agreement with the Federal Highway Administration. The case studies include examples of how adaptation has been incorporated into decisionmaking at all stages of the transportation lifecycle: assessing vulnerability, planning, design, and operations and maintenance.
Resources are automatically presented by rating, but can also be sorted by date and title. Apply additional filters to narrow the list by climate impact, region, transportation mode or stage of decision-making, state, or jurisdictional focus.
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Resource
2010
The City of Toronto developed its Climate Change Risk Assessment Tool, a software program and review process, to enable Toronto’s service and infrastructure providers to identify climate change risks and assess potential actions to reduce the impacts of climate change on infrastructure. Toronto’s Transportation Services Division (TSD) tested the tool in a 2011 pilot study, examining the impacts on 90 assets and services from seven extreme weather event types over two time horizons. The TSD pilot found that the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events is expected to quadruple the number of extreme risk scenarios by 2050.
Related Organizations: City of Toronto; Ontario, Canada
Resource Category: Data and tools
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Resource
April 17, 2009
This report was designed to help the City of Los Angeles use low impact development (LID) techniques to address water quality, flood control, and climate change issues. LID is a strategy for managing stormwater runoff that uses natural drainage features to capture and filter urban runoff. From an environmental standpoint, LID reduces water pollution, replenishes aquifers, and encourages water reuse. From an adaptation standpoint, LID reduces stress on water supply and can provide shade trees, helping to reduce urban heat islands.
Related Organizations: City of Los Angeles, California
Author or Affiliated User: Haan-Fawn Chau
Resource Category: Solutions
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Resource
October 14, 2009
This report reviews the best available science on observed and projected climate patterns in Maine, synthesizes the influence of climate change on Maine's transportation infrastructure, and lists the measures the state's Department of Transportation (Maine DOT) will take to address project climate impacts. The report is a preliminary summary of Maine’s proactive approach to transportation planning that addresses climate impacts, positioning Maine DOT to receive support from federal agencies.
Related Organizations: Maine Department of Transportation
Resource Category: Solutions
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Resource
December 16, 2008
The Houston-Galveston Area Council Foresight Panel on Environmental Effects (the Panel) published a 2008 report informing local governments in the region of possible effects of climate change on their transportation infrastructure and recommending how to best reduce the risk of those impacts. The Panel synthesized climate change effects in the region including sea-level rise, increases in temperature, and more frequent and intense storm events interspersed with periods of drought. The report looks at impacts across both the built and natural environments, but this case study focuses solely on the recommendations that apply to transportation infrastructure.
Related Organizations: Houston-Galveston Area Council
Resource Category: Solutions
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Resource
2008
From the Transportation Research Board (TRB) report Potential Impacts of Climate Change on U. S. Transportation, this case study describes the transportation sector’s response to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. It focuses on the storms’ impact to national-level freight movement, highlighting efforts to reroute traffic in order to avoid long-lasting disruptions. Despite damage to Gulf Coast transportation systems from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, the region experienced only modest disruptions to freight flow because transportation system redundancies allowed traffic to be rerouted away from impacted areas.
Related Organizations: Transportation Research Board (TRB) of the National Academies
Resource Category: Solutions
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April 2009
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) completed an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) In order to assess the impacts of proposed transportation investments in the San Francisco Bay Area. The EIR includes a qualitative assessment of potential climate change impacts on the region’s transportation system, with a focus on sea-level rise impacts. It also suggests measures to protect transportation assets from the impacts of climate change. The EIR, finalized in 2009, was part of the development of the MTC’s long-range transportation plan, “Transportation 2035 Plan: Change in Motion.
Related Organizations: California Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)
Resource Category: Planning
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Resource
October 2008
New York City’s Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) commissioned this report, “MTA Adaptations to Climate Change: A Categorical Imperative,” to provide a risk-based framework for adapting MTA facilities to climate change impacts. The assessment covers the entire MTA region, which includes New York City, 12 counties in southeastern New York, and two counties in southwestern Connecticut. Specifically, the report identifies steps for completing a vulnerability assessment; develops climate change scenarios for the region; conducts an initial survey of key vulnerabilities of MTA assets and operations by agency and type of hazard; and offers recommendations for ways that the MTA can assess critical infrastructure, plan for, and implement climate change adaptation projects.
Related Organizations: New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), City of New York, New York
Authors or Affiliated Users: Klaus Jacob, Cynthia Rosenzweig, Radley Horton, David Major, Vivien Gornitz
Resource Category: Assessments
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November 2008
This Coastal Regional Sediment Management Plan identifies four strategies to reduce coastal erosion along southern Monterey Bay in California. One of these strategies involves beach nourishment to protect critical infrastructure, including sections of California Highway 1.
Related Organizations: Association of Monterey Bay Area Governments, California Coastal Sediment Management Workgroup
Resource Category: Planning
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Recognizing that climate change will cause changes in precipitation and stream flow, the state of Maine has taken several steps to evaluate the vulnerability of its bridges to scour and implement corrective actions to safeguard those most critical. Among the transportation infrastructure adaptation policies recommended in Maine DOT’s report Climate Change and Transportation in Maine were two scour-related goals: inspecting all bridges at least every two years, and conducting underwater inspections for scour and structural integrity every 60 months.
Related Organizations: Maine Department of Transportation, State of Maine
Resource Category: Solutions
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Resource
2009
New York City’s Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) installed raised ventilation grates at 25 different locations throughout the city in order to reduce flooding of their subway system. Similar strategies could be used for underground highway assets, such as tunnels, where ventilation systems are at risk of flooding.
Related Organizations: New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), City of New York, New York
Resource Category: Solutions
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