Leveraging socio-ecological resilience theory to build climate resilience in transport infrastructure

ABSTRACT

Anthropogenic climate change poses risks to transport infrastructure that include disrupted operations, reduced lifespan and increased reconstruction and maintenance costs. Efforts to decrease the vulnerability of transport networks have been largely limited to understanding projected risks through governance and administrative efforts. Where physical adaptation measures have been implemented, these have typically aligned with a traditional “engineering resilience” approach of increasing the strength and rigidity of assets to withstand the impacts of climate change and maintain a stable operating state. Such systems have limited agility and are susceptible to failure from “surprise events”. Addressing these limitations, this paper considers an alternate approach to resilience, inspired by natural ecosystems that sense conditions in real-time, embrace multi-functionality and evolve in response to changing environmental conditions. Such systems embrace and thrive on unpredictability and instability. This paper synthesises key literature in climate adaptation and socio-ecological resilience theory to propose a shift in paradigm for transport infrastructure design, construction and operation, towards engineered systems that can transform, evolve and internally manage vulnerability. The authors discuss the opportunity for biomimicry (innovation inspired by nature) as an enabling discipline for supporting resilient and regenerative infrastructure, introducing three potential tools and frameworks. The authors conclude the importance of leveraging socio-ecological resilience theory, building on the achievements in engineering resilience over the past century. These findings have immediate practical applications in redefining resilience approaches for new transport infrastructure projects and transport infrastructure renewal.     

为进行能源管理并强化车体结构所采用的结构粘合剂

1简介 在汽车制造过程中,作为一种金属连接的方式,结构粘合剂的应用正处于迅猛发展阶段。结构粘合剂可增强粘接结构的刚性、耐久性和抗冲撞性。此外．该粘合剂的使用使得相容性差的金属之间的粘接变得容易,因此从成本高低和车体质量大小方面加大了车体结构优化设计的可能性。     

Kuwaiti tanker reflagging_a confluence of foreign and maritme politime policies

In 1987, the government of Kuwait requested permission of the US government to reflag 11 of its tankers to the American flag for the purpose of gaining protection from Iranian attacks. The US government agreed, citing overall strategic and political considerations. As part of the reflagging, waivers were granted to permit the vessels to operate without proper inspections and without licensed radio operators. Furthermore, the vesels employed only one US mariner each, th eecaptain, and though subsequent legislation closed the 'loophole' through which that occurred, anotherr waiver allowed the Kuwaitis to continue without hiring Americans. The maritime policy implications-and the juxtaposition of maritime and foreign policies-were of concern to members of Congress, who held hearings and introduced and passed legislation on the issue.     

Transportation in suburbia: Trends in attitudes,behaviors and policy preferences in Orange County,California

This paper analyzes transportation attitudes, behaviors and policy preferences in a suburban region. The focus of the study is Orange County, which has experienced rapid growth and industrialization in recent decades. The results from the 1989 Orange County Annual Survey indicate that most residents perceive traffic to be the most serious problem facing the area, and most residents are dissatisfied with the current freeways. Over time, the trend is increased perceptions of traffic problems, However, there is little evidence that residents have changed their driving habits in recent years and there is considerable opposition to new transportation taxes and policies aimed at reducing traffic congestion. These trends are related to opposition to change by affluent suburban residents and to distrust of local government. Traffic attitudes and conservativism appear to play a minor role in predicting current driving habits and policy preferences. The results have important implications for future efforts to improve suburban traffic.     

The demand impacts of train punctuality in great britain: systematic review,meta-analysis and some new econometric insights

Transportation - This paper updates and extends the systematic review and meta-analysis of Wardman and Batley (Transportation 41:1041–1069, 2014), which hitherto was the most comprehensive...     

A private matter: the implications of privacy regulations for intelligent transportation systems

The rapid development and deployment of Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS) that utilize data on the movement of vehicles can greatly benefit transportation network operations and safety, but may test the limits of personal privacy. In this paper we survey the current state of legal and industry-led privacy protections related to ITS and find that the lack of existing standards, rules, and laws governing the collection, storage, and use of such information could both raise troubling privacy questions and potentially hinder implementation of useful ITS technologies. We then offer practical recommendations for addressing ITS-related privacy concerns though both privacy-by-design solutions (that build privacy protections into data collection systems), and privacy-by-policy solutions (that provide guidelines for data collection and treatment) including limiting the scope of data collection and use, assuring confidentially of data storage, and other ways to build trust and foster consumer consent.     

How much noise reduction at airports?

Airport noise nuisance is a negative externality especially when it occurring near urban areas. Like all externalities, noise nuisance may be a reason for government intervention. When intervening, governments should set quantitative policy targets with care. In practice, this issue is generally neglected. This line of research sets the first step towards determining optimal policy targets in the case of noise nuisance near airports, more specifically in the case of Amsterdam Airport. We use hedonic pricing to establish the benefits of noise reduction. Furthermore, we develop a bottom-up cost function to analyze the costs of reducing noise for airlines. We then equate marginal costs and benefits to establish the optimal level of noise reduction, which appears to be 3 dB in the case of Amsterdam Airport. Welfare increasing measures include alternative approach procedures, regional substitution of planes within existing fleets and early depreciation of noisy planes increase welfare. Reducing the number of flights has a negative effect on net welfare.     

Stated willingness to participate in travel surveys: a cross-country and cross-methods comparison

Transportation - Travel surveys are the primary source of data that feed into the analysis and modeling of travel behaviour. Numerous studies have found that the survey method, be it pen and paper,...     

Psychological items: a useful addition in modeling travel behavior on managed lanes

Transportation - Managed lanes (MLs) are a tool to more efficiently operate segments of a freeway. As ML prevalence increases in the United States of America, it is important to understand travel...