Climate Change Impact Assessment for Surface Transportation in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska
Climate change is posing unique and unprecedented challenges for state departments of transportation (DOT). Changing weather patterns and their associated physical, financial, and social impacts are affecting or will affect the way transportation professionals finance, plan, design, construct, operate, and maintain multimodal transportation infrastructure. Many state transportation agency procedures and practices were developed without full consideration of the likely impacts of climate change. For example, more frequent, high intensity precipitation events and associated floods may lead to expensive and unpredictable catastrophic failure of roads and bridges designed with outdated hydrologic data. DOTs could experience hundreds of millions of dollars in infrastructure damage that potentially could be avoided with more robust data collection, planning, and design tools/methods for managing risks associated with climate change.
The objective of this research is to conduct a preliminary assessment of the risks and vulnerabilities climate change poses to the surface transportation infrastructure system in the Pacific Northwest and Alaska region. This research will address the potential impacts of climate change and their associated adaptation opportunities throughout the region, giving equal deference to inland and coastal areas as well as all modes of the regional surface transportation system. The research team will focus on identifying opportunities that the DOTs and University Transportation Centers in the region can collaborate to:
- incorporate climate change in long-range multimodal transportation planning,
- identify and collect data needed to monitor conditions and assess climate-related impacts, and
- develop more robust probabilistic analysis tools to support transportation infrastructure, planning, design, operation, maintenance, and relocation.
Survey
Survey link, click here
Papers - Conference Proceedings - Working Papers
Preparing Transportation Infrastructure for the Consequences of Climate Change
Climate Action Plans and Long-Range Transportation Plans in the Pacific Northwest
Presentations
Northwest Transportation Conference, Corvallis, OR, February 2010
Research Team
Miguel Figliozzi, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Portland State University
Email: figliozzi AT pdx DOT edu
Ashley Haire, Ph.D.
Senior Research Associate
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
Portland State University
Email: haire@pdx.edu
Jason Ideker, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
School of Civil and Construction Engineering
Oregon State University
Email: idekerj@engr.oregonstate.edu
Ming Lee, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering
University of Alaska Fairbanks
Email:ffml@uaf.edu
John MacArthur
Sustainable Transportation Program Manager
Oregon Transportation Research and Education Consortium
Portland State University
Email: macarthur@pdx.edu
Philip Mote, Ph.D.
Director Oregon Climate Change Research Institute
Oregon University System
Associate Professor
College of Oceanic and Atmospheric Sciences
Oregon State University
Email: pmote@coas.oregonstate.edu
Lindsay Walker
Graduate Research Assistant
Intelligent Transportation Systems Lab
Portland State University
Email: lnwalker@pdx.edu
We are hosting a webinar that will explore the findings of Transportation Research Board Special Report 299: A Transportation Research Program for Mitigating and Adapting to Climate Change and Conserving Energy. The webinar will be followed by an informal discussion on climate change transportation impacts and planning in the Pacific Northwest. Special Report 299 concludes that federal, state, and local policy makers need informed guidance about the effectiveness, costs, feasibility, and acceptability of transportation strategies to mitigate transportation greenhouse gas emissions and conserve energy and to adapt to climate change. The report covers strategies effecting travel and mode choice, models and decision tools, infrastructure investment options, and infrastructure construction, operations, and maintenance. The session will be of particular interest to those interested in the climate change and energy conservation related research programs that might be funded in the next surface transportation reauthorization legislation. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask the webinar presenters questions. When: Wednesday, December 2, 2009 Where: Portland State University Intelligent Transportation System Lab, 1930 SW 4th Ave, Room 315 Time: 11 am - 12:45 pm Please email Lindsay Walker at lnwalker@pdx.edu if you need additional information.
ITS co-sponsors weekly seminars during the academic year. Seminars are free and open to the public, and may be taken for credit. Please join us: 12:00 to 1:00 p.m. in Room 204 of the Distance Learning Center Wing of the Urban Center on the Portland State University campus More