Maintaining Reliability of Transportation Systems and Interdependent Infrastructure under Climate Change
Samuel Markolf
Arizona State University
Dr. Sam Markolf received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and his PhD in Civil & Environmental Engineering and Engineering & Public Policy from Carnegie Mellon University. The topic of his dissertation was “Climate Change Decision-Making at the Metropolitan Level: Current Estimates and Future Drivers of Greenhouse Gas Emissions in U.S. Metropolitan Areas.” His general interests include sustainable planning and decision making at the urban level, climate change adaptation and mitigation, and urban systems engineering.
Sam is now a fellow within the UREx SRN and Arizona State University’s Julie Anne Wrigley Global Institute of Sustainability and his research primarily focuses on urban infrastructure resilience and the integration of Social-Ecological-Technical Systems (SETS) in urban areas. In particular, he is investigating how SETS solutions can be implemented to enhance the long-term sustainability of urban environments and their resilience to extreme events caused by climate change. Sam is also exploring the temporal dynamics of urban infrastructure systems in response to historical extreme events, and working with colleagues to develop novel methods for spatially visualizing and analyzing the impacts of climate change.
When not working on ways to enhance the sustainability and resiliency of our cities, Sam is most likely travelling, hiking, biking, playing and watching sports (especially basketball and soccer), or enjoying the company of his friends and family.
Abstract
Climate and technological change are two emerging forces that are likely to have profound effects on the structure, operation, and effectiveness of transportation systems. In particular, technological advances in the... [ view full abstract ]
Climate and technological change are two emerging forces that are likely to have profound effects on the structure, operation, and effectiveness of transportation systems. In particular, technological advances in the transportation system will result in increased complexity and interdependence with other infrastructure systems.
Given these concurrent changes, it is vital for transportation system practitioners to identify and plan for both the direct and indirect (via interdependence with other infrastructure systems) threats posed by climate change. For example, the continued growth of electric vehicles will increase the dependence of the transportation system on the electricity grid. Thus, any prolonged disruption to the electrical system could significantly inhibit mobility. Similarly, any disruption to the transportation system may hinder the ability of response crews to reach and repair failed components of the electricity grid and other critical infrastructure systems.
In this synthesis article, we identify the impacts and vulnerabilities that extreme events from climate change may have on the transportation system – especially as a result of dependence/interdependence with other infrastructure systems. The climate stressors we explore include extreme heat, extreme precipitation, drought, and sea level rise/coastal flooding. Critical interdependencies are explored between the transportation system and other infrastructure systems such as energy supply and distribution systems (especially the electricity grid), water management and distribution systems, and information and communication technologies systems. Interdependencies are classified as either physical, cyber, geographic, and logical, while failures within and across these systems are classified as cascading, escalating, and/or common cause. Finally, we also explore the role of social systems and human behavior when confronting disruptions to critical infrastructure systems.
Through this analysis, we seek to answer the following research questions: How does interdependence and complexity with other critical infrastructure systems contribute to the loss of mobility/accessibility in transportation systems? Which types of interdependencies and failures appear to be most relevant to transportation systems? How does consideration of interdependence and complexity alter traditional vulnerability assessment completed by transportation agencies? What actions might transportation managers take to better plan for and mitigate vulnerabilities associated with complex and interdependent infrastructure systems?
Authors
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Samuel Markolf
(Arizona State University)
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Mikhail Chester
(Arizona State University)
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Andrew Fraser
(Arizona State University)
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Christopher Hoehne
(Arizona State University)
Topic Areas
• Complexity, resilience and sustainability , • Infrastructure systems, the built environment, and smart and connected infrastructure , • Resilience and planning
Session
ThS-12 » Resilient infrastructure 2 (09:45 - Thursday, 29th June, Room I)
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