Transportation Planning in Response to Climate Change: Methods and Tools for Adaptation in Delaware

As the risk of climate change increases, pressure for adaptation within transportation agencies to promote sustainable practices and alter behavior continues to rise. While mitigation efforts are essential to slowing the threat of climate change, adaptation practices to build resilience and protection from impacts should be accelerated. Implementing designs that are responsive to climate change-induced factors to reduce impacts through transportation adaptation practice is fundamental to regional transportation planning in Delaware. Potential climate change impacts specific to the state of Delaware include increases in heat waves and very hot days, rising sea level and increases in intense precipitation events. This study explores methods for analyzing potential climate change impacts such as sea level rise on transportation infrastructure in Delaware, specifically the I-95 corridor. These methods are applied in the application of a decision support tool for transportation adaptation titled, Climate Change Adaptation Tool for Transportation: Mid-Atlantic. A case study of the tool is implemented at the regional level to the Wilmington Area Planning Council (WILMAPCO). The methods implemented for adaptation planning in northern Delaware provide an example of how agencies throughout the country can begin to adapt to climate change.

• Supplemental Notes:
  • This paper was sponsored by TRB committee ADC70(2) Climate Change
• Corporate Authors:

  Transportation Research Board

  500 Fifth Street, NW
  Washington, DC  United States  20001
• Authors:
  • Oswald, Michelle
  • McNeil, Sue
  • Ames, David
  • Mao, Weifeng
• Conference:
  • Transportation Research Board 91st Annual Meeting
  • Location: Washington DC, United States
  • Date: 2012-1-22 to 2012-1-26
• Date: 2012

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Digital/other
• Features: Figures; References; Tables;
• Pagination: 16p
• Monograph Title: TRB 91st Annual Meeting Compendium of Papers DVD

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Climate change; Climate change adaptation; Decision support systems; Environmental impacts; Regional planning; Transportation planning
• Geographic Terms: Delaware
• Subject Areas: Energy; Environment; Planning and Forecasting; Transportation (General); I15: Environment; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01368309
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: 12-1506
• Files: TRIS, TRB
• Created Date: Apr 25 2012 7:57AM