POINTS FOR POLICY MAKERS RESEARCH BRIEF - Coastal Flooding Increases Traffic Delays and Accidents

Traffic Delays and Accidents The characteristics of a traffic system — the availability of alternate routes — can play a Disruptions from sea level rise and coastal flooding events larger role in the magnitude of indirect impacts from flooding and hazards than the exposure have significant indirect impacts on urban traffic networks and to the hazard itself. [...] concentration of people and resources in cities and the clustering of Traffic re-routing due to coastal flooding may cities along coastlines. [...] For ABOUT THE AUTHORS coastal flooding events, three types of flood impacts were identified: impassable commutes where the origin, destination or critical road Jenny Suckale connections are flooded and impede driving; travel time delays caused Jenny Suckale is an assistant professor of Geophysics by commuters rerouting to avoid flooded roadways; and increases in and center fellow at the car and pe. [...] The study highlights the challenges of preparing the traffic network in Leonard the Bay Area for climate change. [...] This brief is based on the papers “When Floods Hit the Road: Resilience to Flood-related Traffic Disruption in the San Francisco Bay Area and Beyond,” published in Science Advances and “Traffic accidents and delays present contrasting pictures of traffic resilience to coastal flooding in the San Francisco Bay Area, USA,” published in Urban Climate.