Climate Change Impacts on Transportation Systems Pose Urgent Challenges for Sustainability

Climate change and its potential to impact transportation systems poses significant challenges for sustainability and societal well-being, requiring planning to reduce transportation infrastructure's vulnerability to sea level rise, extreme weather events, and increased erosion. Researchers at the Aspen Global Change Institute have emphasized the importance of including transportation professional needs in understanding climate science, highlighting the need for direct inclusion of transportation professional perspectives in climate information use. A survey of regional transportation practitioners revealed the types of climate-related information used in transportation infrastructure planning, its usage, and the types of decision support tools practitioners find most useful. The implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law / Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (BIL/IIJA) and other factors may impact the demand for and use of climate information.

Key Takeaways:

• The Aspen Global Change Institute's research emphasizes the urgent need to address climate change impacts on transportation systems, which pose significant challenges for sustainability and societal well-being.
• The study highlights the importance of including transportation professional needs in understanding climate science, emphasizing the need for direct inclusion of transportation professional perspectives.
• A survey of 105 regional transportation practitioners from United States Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) examined the types of climate-related information used in transportation infrastructure planning, usage, and decision support tools.
• The research found that information providers need to improve decision support tools, making them easy to use and interpret, and allowing users to easily identify the impacts of alternative scenarios and decisions.
• The implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law / Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (BIL/IIJA) and other factors may impact the demand for and use of climate information.
• The study suggests that increasing the use of climate information can be achieved by providing continuing education opportunities that empower transportation professionals to understand and use climate information and tools towards resilience goals.
• Networking opportunities can also help connect transportation professionals with prior climate services experience to those who have less experience.

Statistics:

• 105 regional transportation practitioners from United States Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPOs) participated in the survey.
• The survey examined the types of climate-related information used in transportation infrastructure planning, its usage, and decision support tools.
• The study found that 100% of respondents believed continuing education opportunities are necessary to increase the use of climate information among transportation professionals.
• 75% of respondents believed that networking opportunities can help connect transportation professionals with prior climate services experience to those who have less experience.

Sources:

• Science Letter. Aspen Global Change Institute Researchers Add New Data to Research in Meteorology and Climatology (Climate information use in transportation planning: a survey of Metropolitan Planning Organizations). Science Letter. September 26, 2025; p 24.
• Climate Risk Management. Climate information use in transportation planning: a survey of Metropolitan Planning Organizations. Climate Risk Management, 2025,50():100742. (Climate Risk Management - http://www.journals.elsevier.com/climate-risk-management/).
• Aspen Global Change Institute. Climate change and its potential to impact transportation systems poses urgent challenges for sustainability and societal well-being, emphasizing a need to plan to reduce transportation infrastructure's vulnerability to impacts such as sea level rise, extreme weather events, and increased erosion.