Making the Red Line resilient in Massachusetts
We worked with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) to evaluate the Red Line rapid transit line and established the baseline for developing a resiliency plan.
What should a transit agency do when faced with climate extremes?
We see the effects of climate change every day, some being more noticeable than others. Transportation is one place where those effects may seem small, but could have a huge impact down the line, especially for transit infrastructure.
We worked with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA), or “T” as its locally known, to evaluate the Red Line rapid transit line and established the baseline for developing a resiliency plan by conducting a climate change vulnerability assessment (CCVA) for the entire line with a focus on the following asset types: stations, maintenance yards/facilities, and tracks.
Assessing the climate situation
In collaboration with the MBTA, we assessed historical, current and future challenges and vulnerabilities to extreme weather and climate change for the Red Line through information gathering, past climate data analysis and site visits. As part of this effort, we identified short- and long-term climate adaptation measures to minimize the line’s vulnerability to the risks of extreme weather caused by climate change.
A key initial step in the climate assessment was gathering relevant information about the Red Line and understanding past challenges the rail line faced with natural hazards and extreme weather, then reviewing climate science to understand potential future conditions.
Targeted site visits and hi-tech tools
Our resilience and engineering staff conducted targeted site visits to determine the current condition of the sections of the line that were repeatedly affected by environmental hazards and weather events, as well as those potentially vulnerable to future climate conditions.
The CCVA followed the methodology of the Federal Highway Administration’s Vulnerability Assessment Scoring Tool (VAST), and Geographic Information System (GIS) technology was used to support the exposure analysis and develop maps depicting current and projected conditions.
This initiative included a GIS-based flood risk assessment of existing Red Line stations, maintenance yards/facilities, and tracks and is part of an overarching five-year and $8 billion capital investment plan housed under the MBTA’s campaign to “Build a Better T.”
Creating an invaluable baseline
Our climate study looked at the parts of the Red Line exposed to climate stressors such as extreme temperatures, heavy precipitation and inland flooding, sea level rise and storm surge, snow and ice, and wind; the sensitivity to being exposed to the stressors; and the Red Line’s adaptability to these stressors. Our experts used the results of the CCVA to develop a menu of short- and long-term adaptation measures to minimize the rail line’s vulnerability to current and future climate stressors. Ultimately we developed examples of potential applications to each main asset of the rail line creating a comprehensive picture of the line’s most vulnerable assets and a guide on which the MBTA could determine where to focus resources. Our team also developed a dynamic, interactive Esri StoryMap that integrated numerous data points to facilitate internal and external sharing of the important findings and recommendations of the project.