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
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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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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June 2008
This Climate Change Action Plan was developed by the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans) to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions from the transportation sector in the state, and to adapt the state’s transportation infrastructure to the effects of climate change.
Related Organizations: Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans)
Resource Category: Planning
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August 2006
In the wake of Hurricane Katrina and significant property destruction, the city of Long Beach, MS developed a proposed comprehensive plan for the city that included a concept for a new public green space called Oak Park to buffer the downtown area from storm surge from the Gulf of Mexico. The plan placed the park between a new roadway to the north and the coastline and Highway 90, which would be redesigned, to the south. The plan was designed to both revitalize the town aesthetically and provide natural protection for residents from storm events.
Resource Category: Planning
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August 2015
The Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG) developed a high-level vulnerability assessment and adaptation plan (“Adaptation Plan”) for the region’s transportation infrastructure, and is using the plan as a framework to guide future adaptation work and inform planning for transportation investments. The initial findings from the Adaptation Plan are being incorporated into the region’s 2016 long-range transportation plan update. The Adaptation Plan looks at risks to transportation from four primary climate-related threats to the region: extreme temperature; wildfire; precipitation, runoff, and flooding; and landslides.
Related Organizations: Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG)
Resource Category: Planning
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Resource
January 2015
“The Innovative DOT: A Handbook of Policy and Practice,” developed by the State Smart Transportation Initiative and Smart Growth America, contains a resiliency section that provides guidance for state departments of transportation (DOTs) on how to incorporate climate change adaptation into long-range transportation planning. It provides state DOTs with a comprehensive list of reforms that will address potential climate-related vulnerabilities and reduce the likelihood, magnitude, duration and cost of disruption associated with extreme weather.
Related Organizations: Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
Resource Category: Planning
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June 2015
Monterey County, California and its twelve incorporated municipalities have integrated climate change into their combined Multi-Jurisdictional Hazard Mitigation Plan. Hazard Mitigation Plans guide state and local efforts to reduce disaster losses of life, property, and infrastructure, including transportation assets. Home to more than 400,000 people, Monterey County sits along the California coast, where it faces numerous climate-connected - often interrelated - threats, including sea-level rise, coastal erosion, flooding, wildfires, and landslides, which can all affect transportation.
Resource Category: Planning
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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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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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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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