pooled fund Projects
In progress
Climate Change and Road Safety: Projections within Urban Areas - March 2012
| Research Area | Road safety Climate Change |
| Responsible Council / Committee | Chief Engineers' Council Road Safety Standing Committee |
| Related Publication | |
| Start Date | December 2011 |
| Expected Completion Date | October 2012 |
| Research Agency | University of Waterloo Ouranos |
| Status | Work is in progress. |
| Project Funding Partners | Ministry of Transportation, Ontario; Ville de Montréal; British Columbia Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure; City of Moncton; City of Calgary; Nova Scotia Department of Transportation and Infrastructure Renewal; Ministère des Transports du Québec; Translink |
| Staff Contact | Craig Stackpole |
Abstract
An objective of TAC’s Climate Change Task Force is to raise awareness of climate change issues in all TAC council and committee work. To identify areas where the Road Safety Standing Committee’s (RSSC) future initiatives could have an influence on this phenomenon, impacts of climate change on the frequency and severity of collisions need to be understood. A pilot project is proposed about climate change micro-mapping and identifying which collision types could be affected by climate change and where they will take place in the future.
A key objective of the pilot project will be to establish a good understanding of the problem in the context of our present times through a detailed literature review and rigorous statistical analysis of collision data from six urban areas for the most recent 10-25 years, combined with Environment Canada’s climatological records for principal observing stations. It is important to study a long time period due to natural climate variability, in order to guarantee a robust analysis. In a climate change impact analysis, it is important to separate natural climate variability and climate change signal.
A second key objective of the pilot project will be to establish the expected problem in the context of future climate conditions (years 2011-2040 and years 2041-2070).
The final deliverable of this pilot project will be a detailed report describing the research and findings for application by agencies considering their preparedness for weather related safety conditions now and in the future. This deliverable will form the foundation for potential future work documenting treatments and mitigation measures to be considered proactively in preventing the negative impacts of climate change in road safety.