Resilience and Sustainability

• At the national level, we’ve partnered with organizations, including the National Cooperative Highway Research Program (NCHRP), on a variety of projects, including  disaster relief mobilization studies, gap assessments, glossaries of terms, state of the practice reviews, and risk and resilience frameworks.

• We’re working to establish a framework that incorporates active transportation into disaster response planning in addition to the national dataset we’ve already developed that shows active transportation response supportive zones.

• Additionally, we’ve created resources for state DOTs to articulate the value of investing in resilience and are currently developing key resilience performance measures for state agencies to assess the effectiveness of their strategies in preparing for climate-related stressors.

• Working with state DOTs (including Georgia, New Hampshire, Florida, and Mississippi, to name a few), we’ve conducted comprehensive resilience assessments, evaluating vulnerabilities due to natural, technological, and human-caused hazards as part of statewide transportation plans and plan updates. Throughout this work, we’ve designed and implemented a decision-making process for prioritizing interstate highway facilities and projects, facilitating a shift from a “worst-first” to a “most-at-risk-first” approach.

• We are developing Resilience Improvement Plans and freight resilience plans for many state DOT and MPO clients in line with the Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-Saving Transportation (PROTECT) program guidance, including Florida DOT, New Hampshire DOT, Rhode Island DOT, Texas DOT, Virginia DOT, and the Indianapolis MPO. System-wide, multimodal risk-based vulnerability assessments, incorporation of equity, assessment of community risk tolerance, evaluation of benefits and costs of resilience strategies for several state DOTs, and the development of step-by-step implementation guides are key components of these efforts.

• In collaboration with the Southern California Association of Governments, we developed a Regional Climate Adaptation Framework, earning the 2021 APA Sustainable Communities Excellence Award.

• In Indianapolis, our work with IMPO on the Regional Resilience Snapshot and PROTECT program guidance included a risk-informed vulnerability assessment with a focus on equity throughout the planning process.

• For the LA Metro Goods Movement Strategic Plan, we addressed freight and logistics issues, along with clean truck (zero emissions) programs at both the agency and regional levels.

• In Northeast Florida, our involvement in the Statewide Regional Evacuation Study Program showcased our ability to provide realistic data for hurricane evacuation decision-making and utilize innovative technologies, like LOCUS, for more accurate evacuation behavior metrics.

For the Georgetown Climate Center, we provided extensive support for evaluating strategies to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic states, including developing the Transportation Evaluation and Carbon Reduction Tool (TEA-CART) to assist all 50 states in evaluating the carbon reduction benefits of transportation plans and capital programs.

We assisted the Colorado DOT and local MPOs in implementing a GHG reduction rule by leading an economic impact assessment, applying the FHWA EERPAT tool, and facilitating interagency consultation to establish GHG emissions reduction targets. 

For the Vermont Agency of Transportation (VTrans), we developed a strategy that far exceeds U.S. DOT minimum requirements. We developed a baseline projection for GHG emissions, evaluated the GHG effects of VTrans’ Capital Program, and devised additional strategies to meet aggressive 2030 and 2050 emission reduction targets.

Through this groundbreaking study, we provided information and tools to help guide the state in how to develop, prioritize, and locate policies and programs that can better enable all Coloradans to equitably access the benefits of vehicle electrification.

As part of a diverse team, we conducted quantitative research to develop innovative corridor charging strategies for battery electric trucks in Southern California, integrating an agent-based truck touring transportation model with energy dissipation models. 

Leading the development of a roadmap, we created Metrolink's Climate Action Plan and assessed technology trends, maturity, timing, and risks associated with various options for achieving zero emissions in future vehicle and facility plans.