Assessing Criticality in Transportation Adaptation Planning

Defining Criticality in the Gulf Coast Phase 2 Study

What is the purpose of the study?	Who are the target audience(s) for the study and what are their priorities?	What actions would you like your audience to take in response to the study?
Develop a vulnerability assessment methodology that fits Mobile, AL and is replicable, transparent, and transferrable to other states and localities across the U.S.	Mobile MPO Climate Change Working Group (primary) and U.S. DOT modal agencies/state and local transportation agencies (secondary)	Senior MPO decision makers: rethink design assumptions in future infrastructure; become better educated about potential impacts; improve emergency planning. DOT and other transportation agencies: Transferrable methods and tools that can be applied by transportation agencies across the U.S. at the state and local levels

What is the purpose of the study?

Who are the target audience(s) for the study and what are their priorities?

What actions would you like your audience to take in response to the study?

Develop a vulnerability assessment methodology that fits Mobile, AL and is replicable, transparent, and transferrable to other states and localities across the U.S.

Mobile MPO Climate Change Working Group (primary) and U.S. DOT modal agencies/state and local transportation agencies (secondary)

Senior MPO decision makers: rethink design assumptions in future infrastructure; become better educated about potential impacts; improve emergency planning.

DOT and other transportation agencies: Transferrable methods and tools that can be applied by transportation agencies across the U.S. at the state and local levels

Because of the far-reaching goals of the study, the assessment of critical assets for Gulf Coast Phase 2 covered all modes. The emphasis on replicability and transferrable lessons drove the study team to focus the initial assessment on transparent, quantitative (wherever possible) criteria; these criteria were then equally weighted to reflect socio-economic importance, operational/use and health & safety concerns. Because Mobile, AL is centrally located among multiple regional intermodal connections, accessibility to the ports and pipelines were also factored into criticality.

Return to Report