SWUTC Research Project Description
Title of Project: Climate Change/Variability Science and Adaptive Strategies for State and Regional Transportation Decision Making
Project Number: 167165
Principal Investigator:
Eric Lindquist
(979) 862-3857
P.I. Affiliation: Texas A&M University
Project Monitor:
Joanne Potter
Cambridge Systematics, Inc.
(301) 347-9129
Project Status: Active
Date Started: 9/1/06
Estimation Completion Date: 8/31/07
Estimated Cost – Current Fiscal: $50,000
Estimated Cost – Total Planned: $50,000
Project Summary:
Abstract:
According to the USDOT Center for Climate Change, projected climate-related changes in sea level, weather patterns, temperatures and precipitation, and an increase in extreme weather events (including tropical storms and hurricanes) will adversely affect transportation infrastructure and decision making. Transportation infrastructure across all modes is considered to be vulnerable to these impacts, even in the near future. Much of the debate over climate change and transportation has previously been focused on mitigating the impact of automobile greenhouse gas emissions. However, the need to link climate change/variability science, (including modeling, risk analysis and assessments, regional impacts assessment, projections and probabilities) with adaptive strategies, regardless of the cause, is now on the decision agenda within the USDOT and the Transportation Research Board. Much of the impact of climate change and variability will be felt at the state and regional levels, and there will be significant negative implications for not developing adaptation strategies at these decision and policy levels. The objective of this study is to generate a baseline understanding of current policy response to climate change/variability at the state and regional transportation planning and decision levels. Of particular interest is the role of scientific information and its communication to and understanding by relevant decision makers. Research tasks will include both a survey of state DOTs and major MPOs, and detailed case studies of several DOTs and MPOs that are currently integrating climate change/variability factors in the decision and planning processes. Our results will also provide a “best practices” component which will not only include existing adaptation and recovery strategies, but potential new policy ideas for adaptation and recovery at the state and regional decision levels. The final UTC report can be used as a workbook for integrating climate science at the state and regional planning levels, and as a resource for state and regional policy and decision makers in the environmental and climate change policy arena. At this time, there is a significant lack of information of this kind available for decision makers.
Objectives:
The objective of this study is to generate a baseline understanding of current policy response to climate change/variability at the state and regional transportation planning and decision levels. Of particular interest is the role of scientific information and its communication to and understanding by relevant decision makers. Our results will also provide a “best practices” component which will not only include existing adaptation and recovery strategies, but potential new policy ideas for adaptation and recovery at the state and regional decision levels. The final UTC report can be used as a workbook for integrating climate science at the state and regional planning levels, and as a resource for state and regional policy and decision makers in the environmental and climate change policy arena. At this time, there is a significant lack of information of this kind available for decision makers.
Tasks:
We propose a two-prong research approach: a large scale (N=100) internet/mail survey, supported by in-depth case studies with elite interviews. The large-scale survey will be directed at all 50 state DOTs and 50 large MPOs with significant transportation responsibilities. The objective is to first establish whether or not the DOT or MPO is actively integrating climate change science into state-level transportation decision making and, if not, what the rationale is for not utilizing this science and if they have plans in the future to utilize this science. If they do recognize climate change as a problem, we will be interested in collecting information on what adaptation and recovery strategies the DOT or MPO are implementing and with what success. The case studies (approximately 3-4) will focus more closely on specific regional transportation networks in order to assess their patterns of policy response to the climate change/variability threats. Utilizing case studies will allow for more detailed assessments within agencies, and across agency functions such as planning and programming, maintenance and operations, and design. Within a state DOT or MPO, different departments may have significantly different perspectives on climate change as a problem and on adaptation and recovery solutions. A detailed content analysis of state and MPO planning documentation and processes will also be conducted to provide background information for both the survey and case studies. This research will generate new data on the use of climate change science for decision making; other studies of this issue in the area of transportation planning and decision making have relied for the most part on existing information.
Task 1. Conduct a detailed literature review on the issue of climate change/variability and transportation, from the adaptation/recovery perspective, and collect state and MPO transportation plans and documents.
Task 2. Conduct systematic content analysis of plans and documentation. This task will also involve identifying the 50 MPOs for survey implementation, and the appropriate contact person within each of the 50 state DOTs for the survey.
Task 3. Design the internet/mail survey instrument. A multi-mode design will be implemented, allowing respondents to choose between a traditional mail response or internet response. This has been shown to increase the percentage of responses.
Task 4. Implement the internet/mail survey, and clean and code the responses. Responses will be collected and coded for assessment and analysis in subsequent tasks.
Task 5. Design and implement the 3-4 case studies based on survey responses, including in depth telephone interviews. Findings from Task 4 will be used to identify potential state DOTs and MPOs that are including climate change/variability issues and factors in transportation decision making for adaptive purposes.
Task 6. Analyze the survey and case study data. This task will be conducted using standard statistical (bi-variate and multi-variate) and qualitative methodologies.
Task 7. Prepare final report for submission. This task will also involve drafting and submitting research papers for presentations and publications.
Index Terms:
Climate, Transportation Planning, Transportation Policy, Infrastructure, Decision Making