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Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide (2017)

Chapter: Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources

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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
×
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Suggested Citation:"Chapter 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources ." National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. 2017. Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/24973.
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Below is the uncorrected machine-read text of this chapter, intended to provide our own search engines and external engines with highly rich, chapter-representative searchable text of each book. Because it is UNCORRECTED material, please consider the following text as a useful but insufficient proxy for the authoritative book pages.

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-1 CHAPTER 4 Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources TOPICS: 1. Case Study Overviews 2. Resilience Planning Process Aids 3. Resilience Planning Frameworks and Guidance 4. Self-assessment Tools and Guidance 5. Weather and Climate-related Data Resources and Tools

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-2 RESILIENCE ADOPTION TOOLS AND RESOURCES Chapter 2 of this Guide presented a basic four-step process intended to help you identify which path or pathways to resilience make sense for your agency. Chapter 3 described some additional steps your agency can take to integrate resilience planning and adoption at your agency within the larger regional context. Both chapters contained references to agency case studies, tools, and resources that can be used to as part of your resilience planning and adoption process. Included below are short summaries of the case studies prepared as part of developing this Guide. The case study profiles briefly highlight the experiences of transit agencies around the nation and in Europe in various stages of resilience planning and adoption. More detailed case study write-ups can be found in the online Improving Transit Resilience Database. A set of ten planning process aids created as part of developing the Guide is also described. These aids too can be found and downloaded from the Improving Transit Resilience Database. The sections that follow include profiles that describe the analysis frameworks, guidance documents, data sources and other resources mentioned in the Guide.

These a availabl resilienc and ma Transit 1. C  H (H a C s sy a u st g to o o p w e o o ra re R re just so e to you a e at your ny more, Resilience ase S illsborou ART) – R nd visibly FO. The a ustainabili stem pro nd adopti rban/stree orm surg reen infra mitigate perationa perating p roofing an hen flood mergency perating p rderly and pid resto gularly p esilience Ad me of the s you tak agency. E are includ Database tudy O gh Area R esilience supported gency has ty and en cesses to on. They a t flooding e. In this r structure flooding l facilities; rocedure d to mov ing is exp operation rocedure efficient ration of s artners wi option Tools tools and e steps to ach one ed in the . verview egional T efforts at by the a chosen t vironment drive resi re primar , hurrican egard, HA best mana at parking put in pla s for temp e assets t ected; an s plan an s to facilit shut dow ervices af th city go and Resou resource improve mentioned online Im s ransit Au HART are gency’s C o use its al manag lience plan ily focuse es and co RT has: a gement p lots, and ce standa orary floo o higher g d adopted d standar ate the sa n of servic ter disaste vernment rces – 4-3 s transit , below proving thority broadly EO and ement ning d on astal dopted ractices other rd d round an d fe, es and r. HART (Tampa CASE

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-4 and St. Petersburg); the Hillsborough MPO, University of South Florida, surrounding counties; Tampa Bay Area Regional Transportation Authority (TBARTA); other local governments to address stormwater management issues and emergency preparedness.  Honolulu Department of Transportation Services (DTS) – The Honolulu Department of Transportation Services is a part of the municipal government that pursues “resilience” as part of preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation, in particular in the context of flooding, hurricanes and tsunamis. The agency’s focus on emergency preparedness stems from a threat and hazard assessment completed using FEMA’s Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) Guide. DTS has mapped its critical infrastructure and assets in terms of vulnerability to hurricanes and storm surge and has standard operating procedures in place to ensure assets are protected when severe weather is forecast. In addition, the agency’s infrastructure design standards require the use of resilient materials in all of its rehabilitation, reconstruction, and new construction projects that are vulnerable to extreme weather.

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-5  Idaho’s Valley Regional Transit (VRT) – VRT, a small regional public transportation authority operating in Ada (Boise City) and Canyon counties in Idaho, takes a very practical approach to resilience planning and adoption. Grounded in concepts of sustainability, asset management, and emergency preparedness, VRT focuses on “event readiness” and restoring service as quickly as possible after an event. The primary threats facing the agency include high heat and flash flooding from severe storms and stream flooding from rapid snowmelt. VRT incorporates basic vulnerability and risk assessment approaches, as part of its service planning, ensuring its assets remain in a state of good repair for as long as possible.  Kansas City Area Transit Authority (KCATA) – KCATA is a bi-state transportation agency operating in the Kansas City Metropolitan area. The agency is in the preliminary stages of developing a comprehensive strategy to incorporate resilience into its management plan for both emergency situations and as an approach to mitigating the effects of climate change, in particular extreme temperatures. The agency’s resilience efforts are focused on “preparedness” and “service restoration” when weather-related disruptions occur. KCATA relies

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-6 heavily on the knowledge of managers and front- line workers to identify assets, infrastructure and services potentially vulnerable to extreme weather and works closely with the Mid-America Regional Council (MARC), the region’s MPO, to coordinate system planning across its seven- county service area. KCATA has also begun to use green infrastructure best management practices, such as permeable pavement in its facility designs to help mitigate flooding risk.  Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LA Metro) – LA Metro is at the forefront of incorporating resilience holistically across nearly all of its business functions to address both infrastructure and operational resiliency. The agency has integrated resilience considerations into its Environmental Management System (EMS), which helps to retain a focus on resilience in agency decisions related to maintenance, operations, and capital project development. LA Metro has developed a Resiliency Indicator Framework, which provides a comprehensive set of metrics to track infrastructure, and operational resiliency over time. LA Metro is in the process of developing a comprehensive Resiliency Policy and is updating

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-7 its infrastructure and facility design criteria and construction specifications to include resilience in all capital project construction, operations and maintenance activities.  Maryland Transit Administration (MTA) – The primary threats facing MTA’s infrastructure and services include flooding, storm surge and sea level rise. The agency’s resilience planning and adoption efforts to date have been primarily focused on operations during extreme weather events. Within this context MTA uses operations and maintenance and emergency management procedures to protect infrastructure. MTA has completed a climate change vulnerability assessment and is in the early stages of developing an asset management system that will incorporate a climate and weather risk assessment. The agency also has in place procedures to facilitate cessation and rapid recovery of services in response to winter weather threats.  Massachusetts Bay Transportation Agency (MBTA) – The Boston Metropolitan region is vulnerable to extreme winter weather and other coastal hazards. In coordination with the Governor and the state Secretary of Transportation, MBTA has developed a

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-8 comprehensive Winter Resiliency Plan, which will be implemented over the next five years through capital investments, non-federal MBTA capital funds, and operating funds. The plan, which calls for the purchase of new snow removal equipment, infrastructure upgrades, and operations during harsh weather to improve service reliability, can be a model for other agencies that experience extreme winter weather events.  Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) – MARTA has successfully integrated resilience into its operations and maintenance (O&M), asset management, safety management, risk management, capital improvement planning and sustainability initiatives. The agency has built resilience into existing systems incrementally over time. Examples include adding weather-related identification codes to maintenance work orders; adding a module to the Enterprise Asset Management System (EAM) for capital projects that specifically references resilience; including risk management as an explicit component of each asset management plan; and modifying the agency’s capital improvement plan checklist to include resilience and sustainability components. MARTA has found incremental approaches for broad

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-9 initiatives, such as sustainability and resilience, to be more successful than imposing a new, standalone system.  Nashville Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) – Nashville MTA’s interest in resilience stems from flooding that impacted the agency’s assets and services in 2010. In addition, the City’s Mayor has expressed a public commitment to expanding transit services. In this context, most of the agency’s efforts have been on emergency preparedness and rapid recovery of services when disrupted by extreme weather or natural disaster. Nashville MTA is focused on making sure it “can keep services on the street.” Part of achieving this goal has included taking steps to ensure bus storage facilities and administrative offices were moved out of flood prone areas.  New Jersey Transit Corporation (NJ TRANSIT) – NJ TRANSIT has adopted an enterprise-wide commitment to infrastructure and operational resilience across modes and departments. The agency’s resilience initiatives are being undertaken in the context of Superstorm Sandy recovery and rebuilding. The agency’s infrastructure and rolling stock sustained significant damage during the storm. Long

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-10 term, NJ TRANSIT is focusing on resilience by incorporating “designs and materials that can resist and survive weather events.” The agency is also in the process of designing and constructing NJ TRANSITGRID, “a first-of-its- kind electrical micro-grid capable of supplying highly-reliable power during storms or other times when the centralized power grid or local power distribution networks are compromised;” and a Coast Storm Surge Emergency Warning System in partnership with NOAA and Stevens Institute of Technology. In the wake of Superstorm Sandy, NJ TRANSIT put in place a very detailed, mode-specific, Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan that is publically available online. NJ TRANSIT utilizes FTA’s Hazard Mitigation Cost Effectiveness Tool to evaluate resilience as part of its capital planning process and adopted new service cessation and rapid recovery procedures.  New Orleans Regional Transit Authority (NORTA/RTA) – Over the past 10 years, the RTA has been aggressively rebuilding its entire system (facilities, vehicles, equipment, track, catenary, electrical substations), which was largely destroyed Hurricane Katrina in 2005. A “philosophy of resilience is woven into all their investment and operational decisions.” RTA has

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-11 put in place procedures to relocate all moveable assets out of “harm’s way” to remote and safe locations when flooding is expected. Key functions for the system’s operation can be provided “on the fly.” The RTA has a mobile dispatch and communication unit that is now a key player in New Orleans’ City-Assisted Evacuation Plan, which is designed to serve the large carless population in New Orleans. The plan was successfully executed in response to Hurricane Gustav in 2008.  San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) – BART’s resilience efforts date back several decades to the Northridge earthquake (1994). More recently, the agency has begun to broaden its focus to include resilience to extreme weather and climate change. Research over the past several years––including as part of the FTA Climate Change Adaptation Initiative pilot program––regarding vulnerability of BART assets and infrastructure to natural hazards and sea level rise provided a basis for obtaining the support of senior management at the agency to pursue strategies aimed at extreme weather resilience, in addition to earthquake safety. The agency’s 20 years of experience retrofitting existing and building new infrastructure to withstand seismic threats is providing a strong

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-12 foundation for its climate adaptation efforts and consideration of weather-related resilience in its policies, planning, capital programming, project design and construction activities. BART is also an active participant in regional planning efforts aimed at addressing the threat of sea level rise in the San Francisco Bay area.  San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA/Muni) – Muni public transit service is managed by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), a unit of city government. The City and County of San Francisco has initiated efforts to incorporate climate risk into an array of planning and policy initiatives including the city’s capital planning process. As a city department, SFMTA will follow the approved Capital Planning Committee’s policies for projects, which meet certain criteria. The Guidelines and Checklist includes an 18 question checklist ensuring capital projects account for: future sea level rise and flood vulnerability, sensitivity to sea level rise, adaptive capacity, planning horizons, costs and other details. SFMTA staff has initiated a pilot project that aims to build upon this citywide effort and will integrate resilience and sustainability features into the agency’s capital

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-13 planning process. This work may serve as a model for other agencies to use in their climate resiliency and hazard/ risk management programs.  Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) – Resilience and sustainability are part of SEPTA’s corporate culture, which is evident in how the agency approaches extreme weather response, safety, project development, and overall day-to-day operations. Primary hazards include flooding, high heat, winter storms and power loss due to extreme weather. SEPTA is particularly focused on “event readiness” and restoration of service after weather-related service disruptions. They are investing in infrastructure protection where feasible and cost effective (flood proofing, bank stabilization, bridge scour protection), as part of maintenance and capital project construction. SEPTA regularly engages frontline workers to collect data and information on system vulnerabilities and performance and uses its asset management systems to flag preventive maintenance needs/requirements/issues that contribute to improved resilience.  Swedish Transportation Agency (STA) – While not a direct provider of urban transit services,

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-14 as the national transportation authority for the country of Sweden, STA is actively engaged in a variety of activities related to resilience planning, engineering, maintenance, and operations across a range of transportation modes. The agency is primarily concerned with flooding, coastal storm surge and sea level rise, and ensuring the “robustness” of transit operations and infrastructure. Awareness of the impacts of natural hazard related threats, the needs for practice adaptation, and the benefits of creating culture of resilience within the STA started with planners and engineers working in the middle-tier maintenance divisions of the administration. A key area of the STA’s resilience efforts was the development of agency- wide Climate Change Adaptation Strategy and Climate Change Adaptation Action Plan.  Transport for London (TfL) – Transport for London (TfL) is one of the largest multimodal transportation agencies in the world. The agency faces a range of weather-related and climate threats including floods, extreme heat, and sea level rise. TfL made significant strides toward improved transit system resilience in preparing for the 2012 Olympics. The centerpiece of policy and plan making for

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-15 resilience is the London Resilience Forum (LRF), which includes more than 170 organizations. The London Climate Change Partnership (LCCP) is a separate but related forum that also addresses transportation to prepare the region for extreme weather and climate change. TfL infrastructure planning standards require a 120- year design life that takes into consideration climate change and mitigation strategies. TfL is a leader in asset management and regularly collects and analyzes performance data as part of operations and maintenance activities and makes this information available to the public. According to the agency, with past incidents and the ongoing threat of terrorism, TfL is focused on a constant state of operational preparedness, which includes ensuring infrastructure is safe from various threats and resilient to climate change.  Utah Transit Agency (UTA) – UTA’s resilience efforts are focused in the area of emergency management, safety and asset management. The agency uses FEMA’s Threat Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment framework to identify system vulnerabilities and a hazard mitigation approach to address risk. UTA has identified earthquakes and flooding as the primary threats facing transit assets and

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-16 infrastructure. In that regard, capital project infrastructure designs must meet seismic standards. In the area of asset management, UTA follows a “fix before failure” approach that requires a very proactive inspection program. Tracks are inspected twice a week. Other items must be inspected at least once a month. Inspections data is collected using computer tablets that store inspection checklists. All inputs are automatically uploaded to a database. UTA uses the large quantity of data gathered to continually monitor asset condition and performance. 2. Resilience Planning Process Aids  Creating a Customized Resilience Definition Activity and Worksheet – As described in Chapter 1 transit resilience often includes concepts related to an agency’s “ability to prepare and plan for, absorb, respond, recover from, and more successfully adapt to adverse events.” Definitions of resilience are not one size fits all. The Creating a Customized Resilience Definition activity and worksheet describe a process that your agency can use to

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-17 craft a resilience definition that fits your agency’s needs and circumstances.  Resilience Lens Tool – The Resilience Lens Tool is a simple matrix-based questionnaire that provides a framework for looking at existing agency processes, procedures and ongoing initiatives (from long range planning to asset management to operations and maintenance) through the “lens” of resilience. The tool provides simple questions that when asked, can change your point of view and stimulate new thinking. The process of looking at everyday activities while asking the question “Can we do this in a way that enhances resilience?” can yield ideas about how to leverage existing efforts to meet resilience goals.  Consider Agency Context: Resilience Planning Questionnaire – Agency structure, governance, funding sources and a myriad of other factors will affect your agency’s approach to resilience planning and adoption. This questionnaire prompts you or a larger work group to take a broad look at the organizational factors and realities that will shape your approach to resilience.  Initial Identification of Stakeholders Worksheet – Resilient transit operations rely on

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-18 both internal agency personnel and potentially a range of external stakeholders. This simple matrix worksheet will help you develop a preliminary list of which departments and individuals within your transit agency have a stake in improving transit resilience, which entities outside of your agency may play a role in ensuring resilient transit services and who in your region relies on your services and therefore may be allies in your efforts to improve transit resilience.  SWOT Analysis Planning Guide – SWOT analysis is a planning activity can help identify organizational strengths and weaknesses and external threats and opportunities that may affect resilience planning and adoption at your agency. This quick reference guide walks through how to conduct a basic SWOT analysis in a group meeting/ workshop setting.  Making a Business Case for Resilience Worksheet – While some will recognize the need for and benefits of improved transit resilience, others will need persuasion. Information about the possible impact of weather-related disruptions is powerful but the addition of information about expected safety, financial, and service benefits can motivate

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-19 different audiences. A strong business case will also address specific departments’ and individuals’ interests and needs (What’s In It For Me –WIIFM). Use this worksheet to organize information, articulating the reasons for pursuing improved resilience, identifying audiences and their WIIFMs, and organizing your thinking. The worksheet can be completed by an individual or a working group.  Preliminary Vulnerability Assessment Worksheet – Recognizing the ways your agency may be vulnerable to weather- and climate- related disruptions is an important early step in building awareness, generating questions, and motivating actions toward improved transit resilience. This worksheet is intended to raise awareness and kick-start agency discussions about why resilience is important. The worksheet is intended to facilitate group discussion and organize the input from a range of experts in your agency in a meeting or workshop setting.  Articulating a Resilience Vision Worksheet – A clearly articulated, future-oriented statement of what transit resilience means for your agency can be used as a guide for all of your agency’s resilience planning and adoption activities. This

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-20 worksheet includes instructions for conducting a visioning session with key personnel at your agency, including a series of “prompt” questions designed to elicit themes and key words that can be used to craft a resilience vision tailored to the particular circumstances of your agency.  Strategy planning worksheet – Step three of the resilience planning process described in Chapter 2 calls for the identification of resilience strategies and the development of detailed action plans for each of the resilience strategies prioritized by your agency for adoption. This worksheet includes a table of leading resilience strategies organized by domain of adoption and a suggested process you can use to develop strategy action plans that detail what needs to get done, by whom, on what time line and utilizing what specific resources. This worksheet provides a simple way to organize action plans for each strategy that can guide implementation, facilitate progress monitoring, and build in accountability by assigning responsibilities and timelines.  Identifying Internal and External Operational Interdependencies Worksheet – Many, if not all, transit agencies rely on infrastructure operated and maintained by other agencies.

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-21 Whether it is the roads on which buses travel or the electricity that powers your trains and other facilities, there are many operational interdependencies that can affect your agencies ability to become more resilient. There are also internal interdependencies to consider. For example, train and bus operators depend on maintenance crews to ensure vehicles and infrastructure are working properly. This worksheet will help you and others in your agency to identify critical resilience-related interdependencies inside and external to your agency. Additional process aides and guidance can be found in the Change Acceleration Process Toolkit, which was originally developed to help bring about and manage culture change in the business sector. The Toolkit provides a selection of activities and worksheets that can help your agency work through the process of advancing resilience adoption, identify the constituencies that are likely to be key to implementation, judge how receptive they may be to helping to bring about change and what areas of resistance may need to be addressed. More detail and a link to the Change Acceleration Process Toolkit can be found online in the Improving Transit Resilience Database.

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-22 3. Resilience Planning Frameworks and Guidance  Federal Transit Administration (FTA) Climate Change Adaptation Initiative included seven pilot projects designed to “. . . advance the state of practice for adapting transit systems to the impacts of climate change.” Agencies participating in the pilot program included: Chicago Transit Authority (CTA); SEPTA; Galveston Island Transit, Tampa HART, and Houston METRO in the Gulf Coast region; LA Metro; BART; Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority (Sound Transit); and MARTA. Each pilot study identified and assessed transit system vulnerabilities to extreme weather and climate conditions, including flooding and extreme precipitation, extreme heat, sea level rise and tropical storms and hurricanes. Final reports from the seven projects, including the resilience planning frameworks used by each pilot agency, can be found on the FTA website at: https://www.transit.dot.gov/regulations-and- guidance/ environmental-programs/fta-climate- change-adaptation-initiative

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-23  Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Climate Change and Extreme Weather Vulnerability Assessment Framework is a guide and collection of resources for use in analyzing the impacts of climate change and extreme weather on transportation infrastructure. Its purpose is to identify key considerations, questions, and resources that can be used to design and implement a climate change vulnerability assessment. The processes, lessons learned, and resources outlined in the framework are geared toward state departments of transportation (DOTs), metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), and other agencies involved in planning, building, or maintaining the transportation system. https://toolkit.climate.gov/tool/climate- change-extreme-weather-vulnerability- assessment-framework  FEMA’s Threat and Hazard Identification and Risk Assessment (THIRA) framework describes a four-step process that walks an agency or community through a process to: 1) identify the threats and hazards of concern in a particular region; 2) describe the threats and hazards showing how they may affect the community; 3) assess each threat and hazard in context to develop how prepared an agency or community

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-24 is to respond to and recovery from each threat; and 4) estimate the resources required to achieve greater resilience through the use of agency/community assets and mutual aid, while also considering preparedness activities, including mitigation opportunities. THIRA guidance is available online at: https://www.fema.gov/threat-and-hazard- identification-and-risk-assessment.  Community Resilience Planning Guide for Buildings and Infrastructure was developed by the U.S. Department of Commerce National Institute of Standards and Technology. While resilience planning and adoption must include preparedness, protection, mitigation and response, this Guide focuses primarily on planning for recovery of community functions. The Guide provides a step-by-step planning process that helps communities understand issues relating to community-level damage and, especially, to prioritize recovery planning. It is intended to help communities prioritize improvements to buildings and infrastructure systems based on the role of these structures in supporting the function of social institutions during recovery. The Guide addresses infrastructure dependencies and the cascading effects of system failures. For more information

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-25 on the Guide go to: https://www.nist.gov/el/resilience/community- resilience- planning-guide.  The U.S. Climate Resilience Toolkit is a website designed to help people find and use tools, information, and subject matter expertise to build climate resilience. The Toolkit offers information from all across the U.S. federal government in one easy-to-use location. The goal of the website is to improve people’s ability to understand and manage their climate- related risks and opportunities, and to help them make their communities and businesses more resilient to extreme events. The site provides links to a range of tools and resources that help users to explore weather- and climate-related threats; assess vulnerability and risk; investigate strategies to improve resilience; and prioritize and take action. The site is managed by NOAA’s Climate Program Office and is hosted by NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information. https://toolkit.climate.gov/  ENVISION is a sustainability rating system and planning guide for introducing sustainability considerations into infrastructure projects. The system was developed by the Institute for

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-26 Sustainable Infrastructure, a not-for-profit education and research organization founded by the American Public Works Association, the American Council of Engineering Companies and the American Society of Civil Engineers. Envision evaluates and grades infrastructure projects based on 60 criteria, many of which are directly applicable to planning, designing and constructing resilient transit infrastructure. The use of Envision can benefit projects in numerous ways including: a) Long-term viability through increased resiliency and preparedness; b) Lower costs through management and stakeholder collaboration; c) Reduced negative impacts on the community and the environment; d) Potential to save owners money over time through efficiency; e) Credibility of a third-party rating system; and f) Increased public confidence and involvement in decision making. More information can be found online at: http://sustainableinfrastructure.org/envision/

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-27  The Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) Comprehensive Interdependency Assessment Framework demonstrates advanced concepts related to interdependency mapping and evaluation, including discussions of risks, hazards and resilience in terms of utilities (power, water, and communications), supply logistics, and interagency coordination. The ABAG report "Cascading Failures: Earthquake Threats to Transportation and Utilities," and the full graphic and context are available at http://resilience.abag.ca.gov/projects/transportat ion)utilities_2014/#interdependencies. The City and County of San Francisco's Lifeline Council 2014 Interdependencies Study (the source of the ABAG interdependency data) is available at http://sfgov.org/orr/lifelines-council. The application section of the case study write-up in the Improving Transit Resilience Database broaches example questions for critical partners. Examples from the transit case studies for this project are used to illustrate the concepts. A link to the ABAG case study write-up prepared as part of developing this Guide is included in the Improving Transit Resilience Database. The

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-28 Administration’s (NASA) Regional Multiagency, Multijurisdictional Resilience Workshops provide materials and lessons learned from efforts to lead regional and facility collaboration for climate change adaptation. NASA controls 16 major facilities with $35 billion in assets. Approximately two-thirds are within five meters of sea level. Facilities are dispersed across the country and coasts- hazards include wildfires, earthquakes, drought, high heat, extreme cold, winter storms, ice storms, and hurricanes. Facilities range from highly urban to suburban to rural–– much like transit agencies. In many locations NASA was the lead agency in a region convening a dialog about the need for regional and facility collaboration for climate change adaptation. In one location, the Washington, D.C. National Capital Region (NCR), NASA provided funding and scientific resources, but was one of more than half a dozen agencies leading the effort. For other locations, NASA provided technical support in the form of a handbook on resilience planning. Materials and lessons learned may help other regions in their dialogs. A link to the NASA case study write-up prepared as part of developing this Guide is included in the Improving Transit Resilience Database.  The National Aeronautics and Space

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-29 4. Self-assessment Tools, Checklists and Guidance  LA Metro’s Resilience Indicator Framework presents a set of resiliency indicators developed for Metro’s transit programs to help prioritize and evaluate climate adaptation implementation priorities to ensure infrastructure resilience and maintain a good state of repair. The indicators address infrastructure, asset and organizational resilience in terms of climate change, and the evolving frequency of extreme weather events (primarily focused on extreme heat and flooding from precipitation). The indicators can also be utilized to: facilitate the process of continual improvement in the areas of failure reduction planning, construction, and operations; monitor progress toward resilience goals over time; and allow an agency to gauge the effectiveness of specific strategies. While the document focuses on climate stressors of precipitation and heat, the framework can be modified to fit the risk profile of different agencies. A Metro’s Resilience Indicator Framework worksheet can be downloaded from the online Improving Transit Resilience Database. More information on the overall framework can be accessed at https://www.metro.net/projects/ecsd/  FTA Office of Transit Safety and Oversight Safety Training website includes a searchable database of

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-30 more than 100 resilience-related topic checklists pertaining to transportation safety, security and emergency preparedness. The website can be accessed at https://www.transit.dot.gov/regulations- and-guidance/safety/safety-training  FHWA’s Infrastructure Voluntary Evaluation Sustainability Tool (INVEST) is a web-based self- evaluation tool comprised of voluntary sustainability best practices, called criteria, which cover the full lifecycle of transportation services, including system planning, project planning, design, and construction, and continuing through operations and maintenance. FHWA developed INVEST for voluntary use by transportation agencies to assess and enhance the sustainability of their projects and programs. While focused on sustainability in highway planning, project development, operations and maintenance, the framework and many of the evaluation criteria embedded in the tool are applicable or can be adapted to a transit resilience planning context as well. https://www.sustainablehighways.org/  Costing Asset Protection: An All Hazards Guide for Transportation Agencies (CAPTA) and the Costing Asset Protection Tool (CAPTool) developed as part of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program NCHRP Project SP20-59 (17) provides transportation owners and operators with resource

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-31 allocation guidelines for safety and security investments. The Guide and tool provide for a consequence-based assessment across multiple modes of transportation assets. This is an initial tool for high level budgeting decisions, providing a platform where all modes are compared on equal footing. The CAPTA methodology, which provides users with a means to analyze assets, relevant threats and hazards, and consequence levels of interest in a common framework, is implemented through a computer- based Microsoft® Excel spreadsheet model that assists the user through the evaluation and resource allocation process. More information can be accessed online at http://www.trb.org/Main/Blurbs/160337.aspx 5. Weather and Climate-related Data Resources and Tools  National Weather Service’s Advanced Hydrologic Prediction Service is a web-based suite of forecasting products. The site displays information related to the magnitude and uncertainty of the occurrence of floods or droughts. These graphical products are useful planning tools that enable government agencies, private institutions, and individuals to make informed decisions about risk-based policies and actions to mitigate the dangers of floods and

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-32 droughts. http:// water.weather.gov/ahps/  NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information Climate at a Glance website provides near real-time analysis of monthly temperature and precipitation data across the contiguous United States. Users can request data for select cities, states, regions, and the nation as a whole to compare current conditions with the historical record. Data are available for the period 1895 to the present. https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/cag/  The U.S. Geological Survey National Climate Change Viewer (NCCV) includes historical and future climate projections from 30 downscaled climate models. The tool allows users to visualize projected changes in climate (maximum and minimum air temperature and precipitation) and the water balance (snow water equivalent, runoff, soil water storage and evaporative deficit) for any state, county and USGS Hydrologic Units (HUC). The viewer provides a number of useful tools for characterizing climate change, including maps, climographs (plots of monthly averages), histograms that show the distribution or spread of the model simulations, monthly time series spanning 1950-2099, and tables that summarize changes in the quantiles (median and extremes) of the variables. The application also provides access to comprehensive, summary reports in PDF format and CSV files of the

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-33 temperature and precipitation data for each geographic area. https://www2.usgs.gov/climate_landuse/clu_rd/nccv.asp State and regional resources are available in many parts of the country. Some examples include:  NOAA Office of Coastal Management Coastal Flood Exposure Mapper is an online visualization tool designed to support communities that are assessing their coastal hazard risks and vulnerabilities. The tool creates a collection of user-defined maps that show the people, places, and natural resources exposed to coastal flooding. The maps can be saved, downloaded, or shared to communicate flood exposure and potential impacts. In addition, the tool provides guidance for using these maps to engage community members and stakeholders. The current geography includes the East Coast and Gulf of Mexico. https://coast.noaa.gov/digitalcoast/tools/flood- exposure.html  University of Michigan’s Cities Impacts and Adaptation Tool is an online climate adaptation planning support tool for decision makers at the city level in the Great Lakes Region of North America. It provides usable data such as demographics, socioeconomic data, and both current and projected climate trends. Using this information, the tool also

Resilience Adoption Tools and Resources – 4-34 identifies a custom network of climate peers whose current climate reflects how yours may look in the future. The CIAT also provides a searchable database of adaptation strategies pulled from existing climate action plans from across the country. http://graham- maps.miserver.it.umich.edu/ciat/home.xhtml  Cal-Adapt is a web-based climate adaptation planning tool designed to provide access to up-to- date information and data produced by the State of California’s scientific and research community. The website provides interactive visualization tools, access to data, a community forum, local climate stories, climate education, and links to additional climate resources. Cal-Adapt synthesizes volumes of existing downscaled climate change scenarios and climate impact research and presents it in an easily available, graphical layout intended to benefit local planning efforts. http://cal- adapt.org/

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TRB's Transit Cooperative Research Program (TCRP) Web Only Document 70: Improving the Resilience of Transit Systems Threatened by Natural Disasters, Volume 1: A Guide offers practices for transit systems of all sizes to absorb the impacts of disaster, recover quickly, and return rapidly to providing the services that customers rely on to meet their travel needs. The report shows how to identify and implement appropriate resilience strategies to strengthen operations and infrastructure throughout an agency. It explores ways that agencies can become more resilient through incremental adjustments in planning and small changes in what they do every day. The guide also shows how to identify critical transit-related interdependencies and engage in broader regional resilience efforts. The guide is accompanied by Volume 2: Research Overview, Volume 3: Literature Review and Case Studies, and a database called resilienttransit.org to help practitioners search for and identify tools to help plan for natural disasters.

This website is offered as is, without warranty or promise of support of any kind either expressed or implied. Under no circumstance will the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine or the Transportation Research Board (collectively "TRB") be liable for any loss or damage caused by the installation or operation of this product. TRB makes no representation or warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, in fact or in law, including without limitation, the warranty of merchantability or the warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, and shall not in any case be liable for any consequential or special damages.

TRB hosted a webinar that discusses the research on March 12, 2018. A recording is available.

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