Researchers Explore Role of Transportation Networks During Extreme Weather Events

A new report from a team of NYU Wagner researchers explores the vital role of certain kinds of transportation networks in extreme weather events. The team focuses on the importance of transportation networks that involve the connectivity of rail and bus transit, since these networks can provide the flexibility necessary to evacuate people and move emergency supplies. The report also looks at the ways that these inter-modal connections could be strengthened for populations in general and for vulnerable populations in particular. It has important implications for major metropolitan areas beyond the New York region, the focus of this research.

Titled “Promoting Transportation Flexibility In Extreme Events Through Multi-Modal Connectivity,” the newly published final report is co-authored by: NYU Wagner Professor of Planning and Public Administration Rae Zimmerman (Ph.D., principal investigator); Carlos E. Restrepo (Ph.D, research scientist); and graduate research project assistants Joshua Sellers (MUP, 2014), Arundathi Amirapu (MUP candidate, 2015), and Theodore R. Pearson (MPA candidate, 2015). It was funded by a faculty research grant to NYU Wagner from the U.S. Department of Transportation Region 2 University Transportation Research Center. The final report is available at:

http://www.utrc2.org/sites/default/files/pubs/Final-NYU-Extreme-Events-Research-Report.pdf.

Professor Zimmerman will be discussing the report at the Transportation Research Board annual meeting in Washington, DC, on Tuesday, January 13.