1.0 Introduction

Climate change will impact many sectors of the economy, and while required adaptations for some sectors already have been studied in depth, the same can not be said of transportation infrastructure.

Rising sea levels, greater weather variability, and more extreme weather events, like hurricanes, are just some of the important changes that will impact transportation networks and infrastructure. Transportation Research Board (TRB) Special Report 290 concluded that these impacts “will be widespread and costly in both human and economic terms and will require significant changes in the planning, design, construction, operation, and maintenance of transportation systems.”

Some important preliminary work has been done to identify the ways in which climate change will impact transportation, notably by the Transportation Research Board and the U.S. Department of Transportation, but less attention has been paid to the potential policy options for enabling transportation to success fully adapt in a timely manner. Yet there will be major costs and damages from these climate changes if policies are not implemented immediately to begin increasing the resilience of the transportation system to climate change. Action now will reduce long-term costs and result in a more resilient transportation system.

The National Transportation Policy Project (NTPP) and the National Commission on Energy Policy (NCEP) commissioned this white paper to identify the policy options available to support proactive adaptation measures for trans portation. This white paper will serve to inform Congress and other policy-makers about policy options at the federal level to enable the transportation sector to identify risks and take effective action to ensure a robust transportation system in the face of a changing climate.

At the heart of these policy discussions must be the recognition that strong efforts to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the transportation sector will not eliminate the need to prepare for the impacts of climate change processes that are already underway, and that proactive GHG reduction strategies and adaptation planning need to be undertaken concurrently. Because transportation infrastructure is built to last decades, and represents substantial national invest ment, it is critical that climate factors

“Rising sea levels, greater weather variability, and more extreme weather events, like hurricanes, are just some of the important changes that will impact transportation networks and infrastructure.”

“The adaptation challenge is further complicated by the range of institutional players at the local, regional, state, and

federal levels involved in transportation, land use, and development planning…”

be incorporated in transportation siting, investment, and design decisions. Figure 1.1 illustrates the relationship of typical transportation planning processes and infrastructure service life to ongoing climate change impacts.

The adaptation challenge is further complicated by the range of institutional players at the local, regional, state, and federal levels involved in transportation, land use, and development planning — as well as the variety of policy and regu latory frameworks in which they operate. Federal leadership can address the institutional barriers that too often inhibit integrated community and regional