addressing climate change adaptation in regional transportation plans

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Addressing Climate Change Adaptation in Regional Transportation PlansA Guide for California MPOs and RTPAsA summary of major infrastructure and other regional facilities can help indefining which assets are most vulnerable or at risk, and also which ones aremost critical to the regional transportation system. It can also begin to outlinewhat economic functions need to be supported by the region’s transportationnetwork. As such, the regional evaluations include a range of infrastructure,including transportation, electricity, water, wastewater, and natural gas, andinvolves systems critical for the provision of services. Other resources addressedinclude wastewater treatment plants and power plants. Also included are stateand federal parks that may be affected by climate change but also serve as aresource in devising adaptation strategies, particularly for sensitive species.5.2 BASIC CLIMATE IMPACTS ON THE REGIONALTRANSPORTATION SYSTEMBased on the data developed from the Adaptation Planning guide, as well as theimpacts to transportation summarized in Chapter 4.0 of this guide, the climateimpacts that are likely to take place and have an effect on the transportationsystems in California include sea-level rise, increased extreme precipitationevents, and increased extreme heat events. These three climate stressors have themost significant potential to impact California’s transportation network andshould be considered, at a minimum qualitatively, during the RTP process.Regional transportation planners have a role in planning for existing and futuretransportation projects in the face of a changing climate. This includesevaluating today’s already complex transportation network and the projectionsfor major interconnectivity projects up to 2035 and beyond. Transportationaffected by a changing climate includes roadways, railways, airports, marineports, and shipping routes. It also includes the structures that support theseroutes, including bridges, culverts, tunnels and tracks.Transportation infrastructure can be affected by climate change through directdisruption of service due to fire, inundation, or landslide; changes in efficiencyand maintenance requirements; and increased demand. Disruption oftransportation systems has the potential to be detrimental to the economicvitality of the communities relying on them for delivery of goods and services.5.3 WHAT CAN EVERY MPO OR RTPA DO?To date, there is no requirement at the federal or state level for including climateadaptation into the regional transportation planning process. However, theproactive consideration of climate change in the process is an aspect of goodplanning. Even without extensive data or capacity and resources capabilities,any MPO or RTPA can conduct a basic assessment of how climate impacts putthe region’s most critical transportation assets at risk. For these identified risks,this guide provides a short list of possible adaptation strategies on key5-4 Cambridge Systematics, Inc.
Addressing Climate Change Adaptation in Regional Transportation PlansA Guide for California MPOs and RTPAsinfrastructure suggested by Caltrans, shown in Table 4.1. Adaptation strategiesthat can be addressed in an RTP include hazard mitigation strategies,maintenance and operational strategies, engineering solutions, and planning foralternative routes, for example.A basic evaluation can comprise the following three steps:Step 1. Find Your Climate Region and Assess the Effects. This stepincludes the review of Appendix C of this guide and reading the four-pagesummary of climate impacts localized for your region. If more extreme heatand sea-level rise are anticipated in your RTP horizon year, for example, youwill want to consider the effects of those stressors on your transportationsystem.Step 2. Think about Your Top Five Transportation Assets and How TheyMight be Affected by Climate Change. This step narrows down theuniverse of possibilities to the five key assets that might be affected byclimate change. If there is a major highway on the coast, or a railway that isalready susceptible to frequent flooding, these could be critical assets toconsider. If you have access to GIS, it may be useful for you to obtaintransportation and climate data layers in order to consider the potentialspatial interactions between them. If you do not have access to GIS, you maywant to think about transportation facilities already impacted by extremeweather and consider how these impacts could change, given the projectionsfor your climate region.Step 3. Develop a Short List of Adaptation Strategies for Further Studyand Inclusion into the Regional Transportation Plan. This step involvesconvening a half-day workshop or session involving planners, engineers andother relevant stakeholders to examine the list of critical assets, considerpotential climate-related risks, and develop a set of possible adaptationstrategies for each. A starting point could be Table 4.1 in this guide, whichoutlines potential climate impacts and various planning, design andoperational adaptation strategies that could be employed. It is also possiblethat the action resulting from this evaluation would be further study into thekey assets for future consideration or during project selection. The results ofthis workshop or session would be a qualitative summary of the vulnerabilityand risk due to climate change, and short-term and/or long-term strategiesto consider in the regional transportation planning process.Cambridge Systematics, Inc. 5-5
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appendix b reportState-of-the-Pract
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State-of-the-Practice Climate Chang
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C A L I F O R N I AADAPTATIONPLANNI
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Adaptation Planning Guide - Advisor
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List of Tables (cont’d.)Table 6.
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Climate Impact RegionsThe APG is or
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APGSTART HERE:PLANNING FOR ADAPTIVE
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What are the designated climate imp
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CA Climate Adaptation Planning Guid
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• Selected Demographic Data. Sele
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Cal-Adapt ProjectionsTable 1. Summa
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Selected Infrastructure and Regiona
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illnesses due to air pollution resu
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Additional Resources• Sea level r
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Cal-Adapt ProjectionsTable 5. Summa
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frequency can harm forests. Large i
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Bay Area RegionCounties: Alameda, C
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the Sacramento and San Joaquin rive
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Table 12. Selected Population Data
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Sea level rise is also expected to
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Additional Resources• Public Heal
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Cal-Adapt ProjectionsTable 13. Summ
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Table 16. Selected Population Data
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As with crops, climate change impac
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Additional Resources• Wildfire Re
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elevations, increased static levee
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The ecosystem functions of the Delt
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Setting and HistoryThe California D
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The islands in the lower Bay-Delta
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Some of the questions that should b
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Southern Central Valley RegionCount
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Biophysical CharacteristicsThe west
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The crops produced are varied and i
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Communities in this region should e
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have the resources to prepare for,
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Additional Resources• Sea Level R
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Timber practices have also had ecos
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Southeast Sierra RegionCounties: Al
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Biophysical CharacteristicsThe sout
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ultimately result in reduced water
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particular concern are populations
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Additional Resources• Sea Level R
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industry around Big Bear. As there
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California Natural Resources Agency
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