addressing climate change adaptation in regional transportation plans

Addressing Climate Change Adaptation in Regional Transportation PlansA Guide for California MPOs and RTPAsregion. The impacts from climate change are focused on five areas: publichealth, water resources, agriculture, forests and landscape, and rising sea levels.The discussion is brief and high-level, focusing on the broader impacts ratherthan any specific assessment of risk or vulnerability on the regionaltransportation infrastructure.Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG)On April 4, 2012, the Regional Council of the Southern California Association ofGovernments (SCAG) adopted the 2012-2035 Regional Transportation Plan/Sustainable Communities Strategy (RTP/SCS): Towards a Sustainable Future. ThisRTP includes a section on adaptation, specifically citing the 2009 CaliforniaAdaptation Strategy Report and its projection that southern California will beexpected to manage extremes of precipitation and temperature, increased stormfrequency and intensity, and sea-level rise. The specific impacts called out inTowards a Sustainable Future include the following:Longer and hotter heat waves;Increased urban heat island impacts, such as heat-related illness and highercooling demand and costs;More damaging storms and storm surges;Greater river flooding;Increased frequency and intensity of combined sewer overflows;More intense and extended duration of droughts;Longer water supply shortages; andDeclines in local ecosystem services, such as species loss or the loss of specificecosystem types (e.g., forests or coastal wetlands).As in the SACOG MTP/SCS, the discussion of climate adaptation is brief andhigh-level, focusing on the broader impacts rather than any specific assessmentof risk or vulnerability on the regional transportation infrastructure.San Diego Association of Governments (SANDAG)On October 28, 2011, SANDAG adopted the 2050 Regional Transportation Plan(RTP) and Sustainable Communities Strategy (SCS). The 2050 RTP lays out aplan for investing an estimated $214 billion in local, state, and federaltransportation funds expected to come into the region over the next 40 years.SANDAG’s RTP identifies the transportation sector as a key contributor to GHGemissions but also notes that the region is affected by the impacts of climatechange. It lists potential impacts as more frequent and intense heat waves, morefrequent and intense wildfires, degraded air quality, fresh water shortages, risingsea levels and greater storm surges, the loss of native plant and animal species,and a higher demand for electricity during peak periods.Cambridge Systematics, Inc. 6-3