Transport resilience to weather and climate: an interdisciplinary view from Rio de Janeiro

Abstract

Weather causes damage and disruption to public transport, especially in developing megacities where transport demand is high, trip-lengths can be long, and poor socio-economic conditions exacerbate impacts. Here, an analytical framework overviews urban transport resilience to current weather and future climate in Rio de Janeiro. It describes how heavy rainfall and high temperatures impact on rail, metro and Bus Rapid Transit networks, and characterises the triggers, actors and linkages that combine to create barriers or pathways to transport resilience. There are three improvements to weather and climate resilience, namely, (a) the creation of Centre of Operations Rio (Centro de Operações Rio; COR) to co-ordinate daily operations and disaster response, (b) a series of innovations in operational integration enabled by co-locating services within COR and (c) infrastructure investment prior to the Olympic Games, which increased transport provision. The results highlight the need for integration and leadership across the private transport sector and demonstrate how resilience to current weather and future climate is intrinsically linked to sustainable urban mobility and should be considered in state and municipal planning strategies for housing, public services, and commercial and industrial development. Without adaptation, climate change will exacerbate existing systemic problems identified by the framework.