Learning to build resilience into transportation systems

Abstract

There is increased recognition of the value of resilience thinking yet few studies have examined key experiences and lessons for the transportation industry. This paper presents eight case studies on natural and man-made disasters focusing on transportation impacts, lessons learned, and efforts to increase resilience. The cases are the Atlanta snowstorm, I-35W bridge collapse, Boston Marathon bombing, Puna lava highway closing, superstorm Sandy, Hampton Roads sea level rise study, Fukushima disaster, and the Oregon Resilience Plan. The cases are used to inform transportation agencies to better respond to and recover from disasters, as well as improve the resilience of transportation systems. In addition to integrating resilience into the management of transportation assets, new technologies and tools relevant to transportation resilience are described.