Transit and Climate Change Adaptation: Synthesis of FTA-Funded Pilot Projects

Abstract

Public transit agencies play a critical role in providing safe, reliable, and cost-effective transportation to the communities they serve. In the face of increased frequency and intensity of extreme weather events, several public transit and other transportation agencies have taken the initiative to adapt their systems to make them more resilient to changing climate conditions, and a growing number of public transit agencies that are aware of the climate risks they face have identified their vulnerable assets and are prioritizing improvements to develop a more robust and resilient system. In 2011, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced its Climate Change Adaptation Initiative and committed $1 million in research funding to pilot projects in seven geographically-diverse locations, including nine transit agencies. This report is a synthesis of the final reports of those seven pilot studies.