Applying Vulnerability Assessments and Triple Bottom Line Considerations to Rail Infrastructure Management: Toward an Integrated Framework for Rail Resilience and Sustainability
Although resilience and sustainability analyses may provide advantageous information to decision makers in the rail industry, there is no formalized framework for incorporating such assessments in rail practices. Furthermore, there are few conceptual frameworks that present an integrated approach to resilience and sustainability for infrastructure asset management in the literature. The hypothesis of this research is that integrating resilience and sustainability analyses will produce more valuable outputs and outcomes than assessing either concept separately in transportation planning and decision making. This research will apply climate vulnerability assessments and the TBL approach to sustainability to rail infrastructure planning and resource allocation decision making. The results will be validated by rail operators and administrators to support improved investments in rail that are resilient to extreme events, protect the natural environment, enhance economic competitiveness, and improve societal quality of life, equitably. Based on feedback from rail practitioners, the research will develop implementation and conceptual frameworks for integrated consideration of resilience and sustainability in rail planning and resource allocation decision making. The products from this research include practitioner-facing tool showing how rail entities can perform vulnerability assessments that integrate sustainability. This tool will be presented at Transportation Research Board’s Annual Conference in 2025 for practitioner feedback and validation. The interactions with practitioners at TRB will inform the hypothesis of this research, provide feedback to improve to tool, and inform the development of a conceptual framework for integrating resilience and sustainability. Other deliverables of this research include two chapters of a PhD dissertation: one focused on literature review and another on framework development. The literature review will be conducted from August to October 2023 as outreach efforts continue. The second chapter will highlight insights from both the implementation and conceptual framework development. This task will coincide with the framework development process. After the two chapters have been written, an article will be developed to be submitted to the Transportation Research Board (TRB) Annual Conference.
Language
- English
Project
- Status: Active
- Funding: $104000
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Contract Numbers:
DOT 69A3552348319
DOT 69A3552344814
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Sponsor Organizations:
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology
University Transportation Centers Program
Department of Transportation
Washington, DC United States 20590National Center for Sustainable Transportation
University of California, Davis
Davis, CA United StatesGeorgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
790 Atlantic Drive
Atlanta, GA United States 30332-0355 -
Managing Organizations:
National Center for Sustainable Transportation
University of California, Davis
Davis, CA United StatesUniversity of California, Davis
1 Shields Ave
Davis, California United States 95616Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
790 Atlantic Drive
Atlanta, GA United States 30332-0355 -
Project Managers:
Iacobucci, Lauren
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Performing Organizations:
National Center for Sustainable Transportation
University of California, Davis
Davis, CA United StatesGeorgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta
School of Civil and Environmental Engineering
790 Atlantic Drive
Atlanta, GA United States 30332-0355 -
Principal Investigators:
Garrett, Adair
Amekudzi, Adjo
- Start Date: 20230815
- Expected Completion Date: 20240814
- Actual Completion Date: 0
- USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers
Subject/Index Terms
- TRT Terms: Climate change adaptation; Disaster resilience; Environmental justice; Equity; Infrastructure; Policy making; Railroad rails; Resource allocation; Risk assessment; Sustainable transportation; Transportation planning
- Identifier Terms: Conceptual framework
- Subject Areas: Administration and Management; Environment; Planning and Forecasting; Policy; Railroads; Security and Emergencies; Society;
Filing Info
- Accession Number: 01900323
- Record Type: Research project
- Source Agency: National Center for Sustainable Transportation
- Contract Numbers: DOT 69A3552348319, DOT 69A3552344814
- Files: UTC, RIP
- Created Date: Nov 21 2023 11:02AM