Multi-Modal Transportation

  • Plan community spaces and development that promote diverse transportation options. For example, the community could prioritize or require that all new developments be easily accessible to existing or planned mass transit stations such as bus stops and rail stations, bike-share, car-share, and other transportation options.

  • Adopt policies that prioritize off-road hike and bike trails for transportation and include safety barriers between driving lanes and bike lanes.
  • Implement infrastructure and storage spaces for shared various forms of public and private modes of transit (i.e. bike shares, scooters, car shares, etc.).

  • Identify existing vulnerable facilities and systems that might be exposed to extreme conditions (e.g. bus stops without cover from precipitation or sun, transit hubs located in floodplains, etc.).
  • Build new infrastructure for multiple forms of transportation to climate-ready standards.
  • Adapt new infrastructure designs for multiple forms of transportation that anticipate changing environmental and operational conditions.
  • Adapt existing infrastructure and operations for multiple forms of transportation that respond to current and anticipated conditions, including changed maintenance practices and retrofits.

  • Plan transit such that individual stations are connected to multiple modes of transportation such as bus, rail, bike, scooter, etc.

  • Create bus/train/other transit routes that provide access to all city locations and resources.
  • Make sure that there are either multiple routes using individual stops and/or that the same route picks up frequently enough at individual stops so that people can reasonably plan for transit throughout the day.
  • Roadways and transit routes can be disrupted by extreme weather, infrastructure failure, and more. Ensure that the transportation systems have been planned for as complete as possible access to the jurisdiction and that all transit stops have access to multiple routes should one be disrupted.

  • Build efficient transportation systems that automate and streamline processes (e.g. remove cash fares and implement the use of transit cards or apps, and reduce underused redundancy of rides or routes), thereby freeing up resources and ensuring access to transit.
  • Adopt useful policies and systems such as passenger information systems, automated speed enforcement, traffic surveillance, global positioning systems incorporated into public vehicles, transit signal synchronization and priority, integrated ticketing systems, real-time parking management, and radio frequency identification. By creating more efficient traffic flow, city transit will become more understandable and ideally reliable, especially in the case of extreme events.

  • Plan for multiple transportation options to function all the time, and especially when extreme weather or other unexpected events or long-term community stressors occur. Transportation options, apart from the typical single-occupancy gasoline or diesel fuel vehicles, include electric public transportation, carpool programs, gasoline or electric car-share, bike-share, a strong sidewalk network, a strong bike lane, and off-road trail network, and robust infrastructure for electric vehicles.

Source Documents

These strategies are adapted from existing federal and other resources. Please view these strategies in the context provided by the primary source document: