CHAPTER 1

Introduction

A broad range of incidents and events have the potential to affect the operations of public transit systems. Weather-related incidents span the range of predictability, with extreme weather events increasing in frequency. Severe weather events can impact transit agency operations, equipment, and infrastructure. A TCRP guide on resilience and natural disasters (Matherly, Carnegie, and Mobley, 2017) includes a summary of potential transit system impacts from high heat days, extremely cold temperatures, high winds and tornados, flooding, winter storms, and others. Potential impacts range from worker and customer health/safety concerns to damage or destruction of vehicles and fixed facilities to short or longer-term disruptions of transit services. Billions of dollars of transit assets—buses, trains, trolleys, tracks, stations, subsystems, and more—have been destroyed by climate-related disasters in the past decades. For example, Hurricane Katrina in 2005 destroyed the transit fleet of the New Orleans Regional Transit Authority, over 300 buses. In another example, an EF-4 tornado in 2021 destroyed the fleet of the Fulton County Transit Authority in Kentucky. Millions of passengers have been deprived of reliable transit service for short or long periods (Matherly, Carnegie, and Mobley, 2017).

A recovery plan documents the roles and responsibilities of the transit agency. Different stages of recovery require different actions and protocols across those stages. Having recovery plans in place prior to an event can speed up the recovery and minimize the time transit service is unavailable. Some public transit agencies are required by federal or state regulation to develop emergency preparedness and response plans, but there are no requirements for recovery plans.

While many transit agencies may not have a formal emergency plan, they typically do have policies in place to address disruptive events and severe weather. For example, Sherburn found that Rochester Public Transit in Rochester, MN, and Greater Attleboro Taunton Regional Transit Authority (GATRA) in Taunton, MA, did not have a formal plan. However, both established procedures for shutting down or curtailing service and advised employees when to check in to restore service (Sherburn, 2011).

1.1 Project Background and Objectives

The purpose of TCRP Project J-07, Topic SA-61, “State of Practice for Transit Recovery in the Aftermath of Severe Weather Events,” is to determine how often transit agencies have recovery plans and whether the existence of a recovery plan impacts the “down period” of full service. In particular, the project documents the current state of practice around transit recovery plans (plans that direct transit agency actions as they transition from response to recovery) and provides examples of short and long-term recovery.

The focus of the synthesis is on bus operations in U.S. passenger public transportation systems. However, the team recognized that transit agencies may offer multiple types of services in addition to

bus services, such as rail and light rail, streetcars or trolleys, paratransit, and even ferry service. It is intended for transit agency executives and staff as well as their national and international transit security partners. It will enable them to understand better the common elements of recovery plans: how recovery plans are developed and implemented, what stakeholders are involved, and what areas of operation are included, along with tools and technologies used in recovery planning and implementation and how to measure the effectiveness of recovery.

1.2 Technical Approach to Project

The synthesis process consisted of an online search and literature review, a survey, and selected interviews with transit agencies. The study team conducted a focused online search and review of recent domestic and international literature and research on recovery from, and recovery plans for, events that disrupted transit system operations. After-Action Reports and examples of recovery plans were collected from agency websites and documented. A search of contemporary news sources and transportation-specific magazines was conducted as part of the literature review. As part of this online search, the authors identified recent severe weather events with transit impacts to create a list of potential bus transit agencies to contact for potential case examples.

A survey was sent to a sample of transit agencies of all sizes to acquire an understanding of the current usage of recovery plans at bus transit agencies in North America. Through targeted outreach and focused interviews, the study team obtained detailed information about the recovery plans developed and implemented by a representative set of small, medium, and large-sized bus transportation systems for the case examples included in the synthesis final report.

1.3 Common Terms

This synthesis is focused on recovery, which the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) defines as actions done to “assist communities affected by an incident to recover effectively.” Recovery differs from response, which is defined as actions meant to “save lives, protect property and the environment, and meet basic human needs after an incident has occurred” (FEMA, 2016). Both recovery and response are phases of emergency management, defined as “the managerial function charged with creating the framework within which communities reduce vulnerability to hazards and cope with disasters” (FEMA, n.d.). Emergency management is considered a continuous process by which agencies manage all hazards to avoid or reduce the impact of disasters resulting from the hazards. The mitigation and preparedness phases are vital for minimizing or removing hazards prior to an incident, while the response and recovery phases address activities after an event occurs.

Recovery plans are a type of emergency management plan that identifies the roles and resources to perform critical recovery tasks and achieve desired outcomes and target levels of performance (FEMA, 2010a). Transit recovery plans address actions to take after a suspension or disruption of service. A suspension of service is defined as a major event leading to the evacuation of employees and passengers on some, if not all, of the transit system for an extended period (APTA, 2019b). Severe weather is one of the events, along with earthquakes, civil unrest, security threats, and terrorism, that can cause a suspension of service.

1.4 Organization of the Report

The synthesis is organized as follows:

• Chapter 1 provides a brief introduction to the project, including objectives and approach, along with an overview of the report organization.

• Chapter 2 provides a summary of the literature review and online search, including an overview of recovery and recovery plans with associated guidelines, as well as summaries of the tools, technology, and financial resources to support recovery.
• Chapter 3 presents the methodology and findings of the survey of practices from transit agencies.
• Chapter 4 contains case examples of transit agencies.
• Chapter 5 offers a summary of the findings of the synthesis, including the identified gaps and potential areas for future research.
• A reference list, a list of abbreviations and acronyms, and appendices that contain the survey questions, a list of survey respondents, and a FEMA outline for a recovery plan follow the report chapters.