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.
176 results are shown below.
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Resource
December 2010
The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey (“Port Authority”) renovated runway 13R-31L at JFK Airport with design features that will help mitigate the urban heat island effect and better manage stormwater. The renovation project featured a number of sustainable initiatives and climate change adaptation measures, designed to reduce the environmental impact of the airport over the lifetime of the runway. A life-cycle cost analysis led the Port Authority to utilize concrete pavement in place of asphalt.
Related Organizations: The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey
Resource Category: Solutions
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December 2010
The “2060 Florida Transportation Plan” provides transportation planning guidance for the state, and includes emergency preparedness and resilience planning in its long-range objectives. The Plan, developed by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT), sets high-level transportation objectives for the state, and offers implementation strategies to meet those objectives.
Related Organizations: Florida Department of Transportation
Resource Category: Planning
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September 13, 2010
This case study details efforts in Keene, New Hampshire to assess the vulnerability of transportation assets to future climate impacts and to recommend adaptive responses in city land-use and transportation plans. Keene’s 2007 Adaptation Action Plan identified transportation infrastructure vulnerable to climate impacts and suggested strategies to improve its resiliency. In 2010, Keene incorporated recommendations from the Adaptation Plan into the city’s Comprehensive Master Plan, which provides the general template for future zoning and land-use regulations in the City, including decisions about the city road system.
Related Organizations: City of Keene, New Hampshire
Resource Category: Planning
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The Surfer’s Point Managed Shoreline Retreat Project involved the relocation of a bike path and parking lot along 1,800 feet of shoreline in City of San Buenaventura, Ventura County. The transportation assets affected by the project include a damaged bike path, a 223-space parking lot for the Ventura County Fairgrounds, and Shoreline Drive. Surfer’s Point is a beach and popular surf break at mouth of the Ventura River.
Resource Category: Solutions
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July 31, 2013
After Hurricane Sandy, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) sold a catastrophe bond in July 2013 to raise funds to manage flood risk to the system and offset any costs of future storm damage if the city is hit by another hurricane in the next three years. Sandy caused an estimated $4 to $5 billion in damages to MTA assets; as a result, insurance prices for MTA doubled. To finance protections from future storm surges, MTA issued $200 million in shares of catastrophe bonds to supplement traditional insurance, costing MTA $46 million a year.
Related Organizations: New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), City of New York, New York
Resource Category: Solutions
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June 11, 2013
“A Stronger, More Resilient New York” is an adaptation plan (Plan) for New York City (NYC), which contains actionable recommendations both for rebuilding the communities impacted by Hurricane Sandy and increasing the resilience of infrastructure and buildings citywide. Chapter 10 of the plan is dedicated to transportation impacts, strategies, initiatives, and policy recommendations. This chapter details the impacts that occurred to the transportation system as a result of Hurricane Sandy, impacts that can be anticipated in the future as a result of climate change, and strategies for increasing the resilience of NYC’s transportation system.
Related Organizations: New York City Panel on Climate Change (NPCC) , New York City (NYC) Special Initiative of Rebuilding and Resiliency, City of New York, New York
Resource Category: Planning
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2013
The Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities (ADOT&PF) is rebuilding portions of roads in the northern regions of the state using a thick layer of insulation under the pavement in order to help prevent the thaw of underlying permafrost caused by heat transfer. Thawing permafrost, exacerbated by increasing average annual temperatures and heat transfer from paved roads, has caused structural instability to roadway infrastructure and buildings in Alaska. Portions of Goldstream Road near Fairbanks and the Dalton Highway further north are both being replaced with insulation board to ensure thermal stability of the roads with increasing temperatures under climate change scenarios.
Related Organizations: Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities
Resource Category: Solutions
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May 14, 2013
The U. S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) issued a report that analyzed findings on the impacts of climate change on the nation’s infrastructure, including roads and bridges, and provided recommendations for Executive action to improve the resilience of the nation’s infrastructure. To develop the report, the GAO analyzed National Research Council (NRC) and the U. S. Global Change Research Program (USGCRP) climate change assessments and reports, conducted interviews with professional and agency stakeholders, and went on site visits to seven locations where adaptation measures have been integrated into infrastructure project planning.
Related Organizations: U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO)
Resource Category: Solutions
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June 2013
The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) considered sea-level rise as a factor in early design and environmental review for the Mukilteo Multimodal Terminal Project (“Project”). The Project will develop a new terminal for the Mukilteo/Clinton Ferry, which provides transportation between Whidbey Island and the Seattle metropolitan area. In the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the Project, WSDOT acknowledged that changing climate would impact the function and operations of Multimodal Project over the 50 to 100 year lifespan of the facility.
Related Organizations: Washington State Department of Transportation
Resource Category: Law and Governance
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The New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) is upgrading and elevating the State Highway 16 (SH16) Causeway near Auckland to reduce roadway flooding during extreme tidal conditions under projected future sea-level rise. The SH16 Causeway Upgrade Project involves raising 4. 8 kilometers (3 miles) of both roadway and bike path along SH16, also known as the Northwestern Motorway, by 1. 5 meters (5 feet). For this project, NZTA utilized sea-level rise planning recommendations produced by the NZ Ministry for the Environment.
Resource Category: Solutions
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