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.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
National Research Council. Disaster Resilience: A National Imperative. National Academies Press, Washington, D.C., 2012. https://doi.org/10.17226/13457.
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Fundamental Capabilities of Effective All-Hazards Infrastructure Protection, Resilience, and Emergency Management for State Department of Transportation. Publication HAZ-1. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington, D.C., 2015.
4.
American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Managing Catastrophic Transportation Emergencies: A Guide for Transportation Executives. Publication MCTE-1. American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, Washington, D.C., 2015.
5.
The United States, Department of Transportation. Adaptation to Climate Change in Transportation Operations and Maintenance, Technical Staff Briefing. Federal Highway Administration, PowerPoint Presentation, Washington, D.C., 2016.
6.
AsamS.BhatC.DixB.BauerJ.GopalakrishnaD.Climate Change Adaptation Guide for Transportation Systems Management, Operations, and Maintenance. Publication HOP-15-0256. Federal Highway Administration, U.S. Department of Transportation, 2015.
7.
LitmanT.Lessons from Katrina and Rita: What Major Disasters Can Teach Transportation Planners. Journal of Transportation Engineering, Vol. 132, No. 1, 2006, pp. 11–18.
8.
FatarechiR.Miller-HooksE.Measuring the Performance of Transportation Infrastructure Systems in Disasters: A Comprehensive Review. Journal of Infrastructure Systems, Vol. 21, No. 1, 2015, pp. 04014025-1–04014025-15.
9.
NDPTC. Curriculum for E0684 Integrating Science into Emergency Management Decision Making and Policy. FEMA Emergency Management Institute, 2015.
10.
The State of Georgia. Internal Review and Action Plan: Winter Storm Event, 2014
FieldingE.LoA. W.YangJ. H.The National Transportation Safety Board: A Model for Systematic Risk Management. Journal of Investment Management, Vol. 9, No. 1, 2011, pp. 17–49.
17.
ZhuS.LevinsonD.LiuH. X.HarderK.The Traffic and Behavioral Effects of the I-35W Mississippi River Bridge Collapse. Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice, Vol. 44, No. 10, 2010, pp. 771–784.
18.
HaoS.I-35W Bridge Collapse. Journal of Bridge Engineering. Vol. 15, No. 5, 2010, pp. 608–614.
WallsR. M.Zinner.M. J.The Boston Marathon Response: Why Did it Work so Well. Journal of the American Medical Association, Vol. 309, No. 23, 2013, pp. 2441–2442. http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/fullarticle/1684255. Accessed May 4, 2017.
21.
TurnerN.Unmanned Aircraft Applications for Active Volcano Monitoring. The Geologic Society of America 113th Annual Meeting, Honolulu, Hawaii, 2017.
22.
KimK.PantP.YamashitaE.Managing Uncertainty: Lessons Learned from Volcanic Lava Disruption of Transportation Infrastructure in Puna. Journal of Emergency Management, Vol. 16, No. 1, 2018, pp. 29–40.
BlakeE. S.KimberlainT. B.BergR. J.CangialosiJ. P.BevenJ. L.II. Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Sandy (AL182012), 22–29 October 2012, National Hurricane Center, Florida, 2013.
25.
DearyD. S.WalkerK. E.WoodsD. D.Resilience in the Face of a Superstorm: A Transportation Firm Confronts Hurricane Sandy. Proc., Human Factors and Ergonomics Society 57th Annual Meeting, San Diego, CA, 2013.
26.
KaufmanS.QingC.LevensonN.HansonM.Transportation During and After Hurricane Sandy. Rudin Center for Transportation, NYU Wagner Graduate School of Public Service, 2012.
27.
MarkE.NTSDOT, and Hurricane Sandy: Operational Impacts and Lessons Learned. Presented at 93rd Annual Meeting of the Transportation Research Board, Washington, D.C., 2014.
28.
SchmeltzM. T.SoniaK.Liza FuentesG.KwanA.Ortega-WilliamsA.Pilar CowanL.Lessons from Hurricane Sandy: A Community Response in Brooklyn, New York. Journal of Urban Health, Vol. 90, No. 5, 2013, pp. 799–809.
29.
GibbsL.HollowayC.Hurricane Sandy After Action Report: Report and Recommendations to Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. New York City, NY. 2013.
30.
GallR.FranklinJ.MarksF.RappaportE. N.ToepferF.The Hurricane Forecast Improvement Project. Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society, Vol. 94, No. 3, 2013, pp. 329–343.
31.
BhatiaK. T.NolanD. S.SchumacherA. B.DeMariaM.Improving Tropical Cyclone Intensity Forecasts with PRIME. Weather and Forecasting, Vol. 32, No. 4, 2017, pp. 1353–1377.
32.
BelfieldS. S.McFarlaneB.Sea Level Rise and Storm Surge Impacts to Roadways in Hampton Roads. Hampton Roads Transportation Planning Organization, 2016.
XieF.LevinsonD.Evaluating the Effects of the I-35W Bridge Collapse on Road-users in the Twin Cities Metropolitan Region. Transportation Planning and Technology, Vol. 34, No. 7, 2011, pp. 691–703.
KimK.DavidsonJ.Unmanned Aircraft Systems Used for Disaster Management. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2015. 2532: 83–90.
37.
HuQ.Connolly KnoxC.KapucuN.What Have We Learned Since September 11, 2001? A Network Study of the Boston Marathon Bombings Response. Public Administration Review. Vol. 74, No. 6, 2014, pp. 698–712.
BiddingerP. D.BaggishA.HarringtonL.d’HemecourtP.HooleyJ.JonesJ.KueR.TroyanosC.DyerK. S.Be Prepared-The Boston Marathon and Mass-Casualty Events. The New England Journal of Medicine, Vol. 368, No. 21, 2013, pp. 1958–1960. http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1305480#t=article. Accessed May 5, 2017.
40.
U.S. Department of Commerce. Service Assessment: Hurricane/Post-Tropical Cyclone Sandy, October 22-29, 2012. NOAA, NWS, Silver Spring, MD, 2013
41.
ComesT.Van de WalleB.Measuring Disaster Resilience: Impact of Hurricane Sandy on Critical Infrastructure Systems. Proc., 11th International ISCRAM Conference, Pennsylvania State University, Pennsylvania, 2014.
42.
KleinoskyL. R.YarnalB.FisherA.Vulnerability of Hampton Roads, Virginia to Storm Surge Flooding and Sea Level Rise. Natural Hazards, Vol. 40, No. 1, 2006, pp. 43–70.
KoshimuraS.HayashiS.GokonH.The Impact of the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake Tsunami Disaster and Implications to the Reconstruction. Soils and Foundation, Vol. 55, No. 4, 2014, pp. 560–572.
HaddowG.HaddowK.Social Media and the Boston Marathon Bombings: A Case Study. Elsevier SciTech Connect: Physical Security and Emergency Management, 2015. http://scitechconnect.elsevier.com/social-marathon/. Accessed October 13, 2017.
CroopeS.McNeilS.Improving Resilience of Critical Infrastructure Systems Postdisaster: Recovery and Mitigation. Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, 2011. 2234: 3–13.
55.
MeanyA.ThomasS.Martins-TonksR.HorneP.How Can the Value of the Resilience of Transportation Assets be Assessed?European Transport Conference 2016. Association for European Transport (AET), Barcelona, Spain, 2016.
