Hazard Mitigation Cost Effectiveness Tool

Accounting for Sea Level Rise Impacts on Coastal Flood Elevations
Nationwide
In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced a competitive grant program for projects aimed at increasing the resilience of public transportation systems against future disasters.
In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced a competitive grant program for projects aimed at increasing the resilience of public transportation systems against future disasters.

In the aftermath of Superstorm Sandy, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced a competitive grant program for projects aimed at increasing the resilience of public transportation systems against future disasters. To help justify which projects were to receive funding, we developed a Hazard Mitigation Cost Effectiveness (HMCE) tool modeled on the Federal Emergency Management Agency's Benefit-Cost Analysis software that also addresses the unique elements of transit projects. At the request of end-users trained on the HMCE tool, we also began developing the Coastal Flooding Recurrence Interval Calculator to estimate the recurrence interval of flood elevation levels recorded during Superstorm Sandy. The FTA challenged us to also consider the impacts of future sea level rise (SLR) in the auxiliary tool's calculations, which we did by taking into account location, SLR trend, and the expected useful life of a facility.

$3 billion

competitive grant program for resilience projects

Upon receiving feedback from transit agencies regarding the usefulness of the tool for planning purposes, we modified the tool to simplify the inputs while increasing both the geographic applicability and types of natural hazards that could be considered. The resulting tool enables transit agencies to evaluate the potential benefits and costs of incorporating resilience measures into projects as part of the capital investment decision-making process.

Owner

Federal Transit Administration

Client

PMO Partnership JV LLC

Services

  • Planning, Consulting and Advisory
  • Technology

Markets

  • Federal
  • Transportation

Regions

  • Nationwide