addressing climate change adaptation in regional transportation plans

Addressing Climate Change Adaptation in Regional Transportation PlansA Guide for California MPOs and RTPAsThe start of the effort should include scoping out the level of effort, identifyingand cultivating stakeholders, surveying existing efforts in the region, andengaging stakeholders in preliminary discussions.Scope out the Level of EffortCreate Linkages with RTP EffortsThe recommended application of this climate assessment and adaptationprocedure is to link the climate adaptation assessment with the RTP efforts.Because RTPs are required to be for a minimum of 20 years, most RTPs have ahorizon year of 20 or 25 years. The climate scenarios should be performed for thematching RTP horizon year (or a close as possible given available resources), aswell for a much longer-term future year that incorporates the life spans of themost durable infrastructure investments in the region, often bridges. Althoughat the time of writing, there has been no formal incorporation of climateadaptation in project prioritization, some regions outside of California, such asOahu MPO and Chattanooga-Hamilton County Regional Planning Agency, havebegun to consider these issues parallel to their long-range transportationplanning efforts. Larger MPOs in California such as the MetropolitanTransportation Commission (MTC) and San Diego Association of Governments(SANDAG) have also conducted more extensive analyses on sea-level risespecifically, but outside of the formal RTP process.Follow Guidance from National, State, and Regional Best PracticesThere are many sources of guidance from the national, state, and regional levelsthat a MPO/RTPA must consider before initiating a climate assessment andadaptation strategy. Currently, there is no national recommendation forincorporating climate adaptation into long-range transportation planning,although the FHWA has developed a variety of tools and resources to helpregional agencies to take action. For those state and regional agencies working atthe forefront of adaptation planning, FHWA has provided pilot project fundingfor the development of assessments. FHWA provided funds for five projectscompleted in 2011, and another round of pilot projects is set to begin in early2013.At the state level, Caltrans produced Guidance on Incorporating Sea-Level Rise(2011) for its planning staff to help determine if sea-level rise should beaddressed in a particular project and if so, how to incorporate it. It guidesplanners and project managers through a two-step process: the first step is todetermine if the project will be affected by sea-level rise; the second step balancessea-level rise impacts with consequences to the transportation system todetermine if adaptation measures should be included in the project. Thisguidance document is intended to be updated as research on this emerging topicof climate change adaptation is released. California Executive Order S-13-08,signed in 2008, mandates that state agencies planning projects in vulnerableCambridge Systematics, Inc. 8-3