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Resilience and Security Recent intense floods, super storms, and hurricanes have disrupted the lives of millions and caused hundreds of billions of dollarsâ worth of damage.49 Combined with the vulnerability of transportation facilities to terrorism, these events have made public and private officials acutely aware of the need to identify community vulnerabilities and plan for responses to natural and human-caused disasters, including near- and long-term climate change effects on sea level rise, droughts, forest fires, and heat waves.50 Communities face differing threats and will need strategies fitted to their circumstances. Businesses, shippers, and carriers must anticipate and plan for supply chain resilience in the face of broad disruptions. An equally compelling set of questions addresses the larger challenge of protecting, modifying, rebuilding, or relocating highly vulnerable highways, bridges, transit facilities, railroads, waterways, airports, and ports to make them more resilient; it may be necessary to add redundancy where possible and even abandon some facilities. It is critically important to determine how to pay for improved resilience in the short term to save money in the long term. 14. Terrorist strikes worldwide continue to demonstrate the vulnerability of transportation facilities where masses of people gather.51 Aviation has developed layers of security to protect against terrorism, albeit at a high cost. Other modes are more open and vulnerableâ including airports, rail and transit stations, and seagoing vessels (piracy). Improved analysis of trade-offs between security and the efficiency of freight and passenger movement is needed to inform policy makers. How can strategies appropriate for each mode be developed to apply layers of security without excessively impeding the movements of passengers and goods? 52 15. The development of robust risk assessment and management methods for vulnerable assets and policies and designs for extreme events is an important next step in preparing for resilience.53 What kinds of decision-making tools can best help transportation agencies make appropriate decisions about climate change and terrorism in a risk-management framework? How can risk management approaches be incorporated into transportation planning and decision making? How can results from climate models be translated into changes in design standards for severe weather events? 16. Proposals to adapt, operate, and strengthen infrastructure to be more resilient raise a number of key questions.54 a. Which policies, programs, research topics, and investments can and should be undertaken to adapt existing transportation facilities and systems to rising sea levels, stronger storm surges, more frequent flooding, and other powerful and damaging weather extremes? b. How can the experiences of communities and states that are beginning to adapt and change55 be best evaluated and shared? c. In light of the inability to be precise about the scale and timing of future impacts, how can funding policies, designs, and standards be modified to build in flexibility to allow for needed adaptation, including the rebuilding of more resilient infrastructure after it is damaged or destroyed? d. What evidence would convince policy makers and the public of the need to incur the extra, near-term costs of adaptive management? trb | transportation research board12
