The Effects Of Adverse Weather Conditions On Transport

The snowfall on 1 and 2 February 2009, the heaviest since 1991, had a drastic impact on transport in London, which had no bus service for most of the morning of 2 February. Overground trains and London Underground services were also affected by delays and cancellations. Disruption to services also affected other areas of the country and continued for several days. This report looks at why public transport had been disrupted and whether this disruption was handled better or worse by different authorities, whether planning and preparation by local authorities and the Highways Agency was sufficient, and whether co-ordination between the bodies involved in responding to the heavy snow was adequate. Local authorities and agencies need to examine any weaknesses or potential improvements to emergency plans that may have emerged from the events on 1-2 February. Responses to heavy snow and its impact on traffic can be improved, but these are to do with planning and co-ordination, not increased spending: extra money, increased salt stocks or more snow ploughs are not the solution. The report finds that three key elements are required for a successful response to severe weather: the relationship between all the bodies involved in ensuring that the road network and public transport systems can operate; emergency recovery plans and winter maintenance plans should give a clear indication of what the priorities for salting and gritting should be and that these priorities have been agreed with public transport operators and the emergency services; the presence of good leadership. Co-ordination, prioritisation and visible leadership are vital to the success and speed of recovery following severe weather.

This report addresses the fundamental challenges that climate change poses to infrastructure owners, who face two major challenges. First, they must ensure continued asset performance under sometimes significantly modified climate conditions that may decrease the present value of their networks ...

Weather has broad and significant effects on the roadway environment. Snow, rain, fog, ice, freezing rain, and other weather conditions can impair the ability of drivers to operate their vehicles safely, significantly reduce roadway capacity, and dramatically increase travel times. Multiple roadway activities, from roadway maintenance and construction to shipping, transit, and police operations, are directly affected by inclement weather. Some road weather information is available to users currently, however a disconnect remains between current research and operations, and additional research could yield important safety and economic improvements for roadway users. Meteorology, roadway technology, and vehicle systems have evolved to the point where users could be provided with better road weather information through modern information technologies. The combination of these technologies has the potential to significantly increase the efficiency of roadway operations, road capacity, and road safety. Where the Weather Meets the Road provides a roadmap for moving these concepts to reality.

While integrated transport systems are seen to be an ideal, there is a failure to make the transition from policy to practice. The authors argue that the achievement of sustainable transport is still a dream, as an integrated transport policy is a prerequisite for a sustainable transport system. It is only when the two concepts of sustainability and integration Operate in the same direction and in a positive way that real progress can be made.

This report examines how snow chaos in December 2010 closed Heathrow, disabled parts of the rail network and disrupted many roads. More can and should be done to ensure UK transport networks continue to operate in severe winter weather, the Commons Transport Committee finds. The welfare of air and rail passenger must be taken more seriously and better real time information must be provided to road users. In its report the Transport Committee calls for additional investment and coordination by government to: ensure the final version of the Department for Transport's Climate change Adaptation Plan refers to the future risk of severe winter weather; improve resilience of the third rail network south of the Thames, with a long term aim to install a more resilient method of electrification; oversee airport planning for major incidents including snow chaos, particularly at Heathrow and review airport regulations to ensure they take account of this; permit airport operators to reclaim the cost of looking after stranded passengers when airlines fail to discharge their responsibility to do this; provide better online advice for individuals and communities about tackling problems arising from severe winter weather; launch a high profile campaign to increase the proportion of motorists taking precautions for driving in winter weather; develop clearer snow and ice risk travel warnings for freight vehicles similar to those for strong winds; investigate the case to provide the Met Office with more money to improve its long range forecasting capability sufficient to improve the way transport operators can warn passengers.

This report presents the analyses of several climate variables relevant to transport networks and nodes within the ECE region. Regional maps have been produced in Geographical Information System (GIS) format, showing the main transportation networks, which have been overlain by the spatial distribution of the climate change projections, thereby presenting an initial perspective of areas of potential risk which could warrant more in-depth assessment. The Group of Experts has also reviewed and presented country experiences in the form of case studies, demonstrating a range of efforts that have been undertaken to analyse climate change impacts on transport assets and operations. With its work, the Group of Experts wishes to raise awareness on the importance of considering climate change and extreme weather (for example, in planning, construction, maintenance and operations) and of strengthening the climate resilience of inland transport assets, networks and nodes. It also aims to stimulate the continuation of work to establish the necessary analytical basis to facilitate local or regional assessments, leading to the identification of specific transport assets at risk which may require adaptation efforts. The Group of Experts, within this report, also formulated a series of lessons learned which have served as a basis to recommend future action at national and international levels towards improved transportation system climate resilience.

This very interesting book with peer-reviewed chapters written by leading researchers in the field discusses recent research in the areas of market structure, sustainability and decision-making. It includes several contemporary topics, such as changes in port competition, adaptation of transport to climate change, changing market structures, the importance of changing consumers preferences, errors in forecasting, and trends in international goods transport. Bert van Wee, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands Transport is debated by many, and liberalization processes, transport policy, transport and climate change and increased competition between transport modes are the subject of heated discussion. Smart Transport Networks illustrates that whether concerning road, water, rail or air, knowledge on the structure of transport markets is crucial in order to tackle transport issues. The book therefore explores key factors concerning the structure of transport markets, their environmental impact, and questions why decision makers often fail to tackle transport-related problems. Three of the key factors that underpin the relationship between transport and society are analysed in detail from a variety of perspectives, each with an empirical focus: market structure and the allocation mechanisms at work; sustainability, encompassing the characteristics of the physical environment, the availability of natural resources and the effects of transport activities; and decision making, detailing transport policy and attempts to change transport systems. Practical guidelines on how to effectively deal with complex transport issues are also presented. This book will prove an important resource read for academics, researchers, and students with an interest in economics particularly transport and public sector economics, geography and regional and urban studies. Policy makers and planners in the fields of transport, environment and regional planning will also find this book to be an invaluable reference tool.

Transport Infrastructure Asset management in transport infrastructure, financial viability of transport engineering projects/ Life cycle Cost Analysis, Life-Cycle Assessment and Sustainability Assessment of transport infrastructure/ Infrastructures financing and pricing with equity appraisal, operation optimization and energy management/ Low-Volume roads: planning, maintenance, operations, environmental and social issues/ Public-Private Partnership (PPP) experience in transport infrastructure in different countries and economic conditions/ Airport Pavement Management Systems, runway design and maintenance/ Port maintenance and development issues, technology relating to cargo handling, landside access, cruise operations/ Infrastructure Building Information Modelling (I-BIM) / Pavement design and innovative bituminous materials/ Recycling and re-use in road pavements, environmentally sustainable technologies/ Stone pavements, ancient roads and historic railways/ Cementitious stabilization of materials used in the rehabilitation of transportation infrastructure. Transport Systems Sustainable transport and the environment protection including green vehicles/ Urban transport, land use development, spatial and transport planning/ Bicycling, bike, bike-sharing systems, cycling mobility/ Human factor in transport systems/ Intelligent Mobility: emerging technologies to enable the smarter movement of people and goods/Airport landside: access roads, parking facilities, terminal facilities, aircraft apron and the azdjacent taxiway/ Transportation policy, planning and design, modelling and decision making/ Transport economics, finance and pricing issues, optimization problems, equity appraisal/ Road safety impact assessments, road safety audits, the management of road network safety and safety inspections/ Tunnels and underground structures: preventing incidents-accidents mitigating their effects for both people and goods/ Traffic flow characteristics, traffic control devices, work zone traffic control, highway capacity and quality of service/ Track-vehicle interactions in railway systems, capacity analysis of railway networks/ Risk assessment and safety in air and railway transport, reliability aspects/ Maritime transport and inland waterways transport research/ Intermodal freight transport: terminals and logistics.