Abstract

The status quo for infrastructure and community preparedness for climate disasters is not adequate for the intensifying climate-hazard landscape in many contexts, and this deficiency can be exacerbated by ineffective public involvement practices. Negotiated resilience is an emerging concept that acknowledges the evolving nature of resilience goals and the relationship between community engagement and climate-resilience outcomes. This study aims to enhance negotiated resilience outcomes for transportation agencies in the U.S. by codeveloping, with transportation practitioners, practical tools integrating disaster management capabilities (i.e., preparedness, rapidity, flexibility) with authentic public involvement practices. To achieve this objective, the study develops a capability maturity model (CMM) with indicators that transportation agencies may use to benchmark the effectiveness of negotiated resilience practices in achieving disaster preparedness in transportation systems. Additionally, this study develops a self-assessment tool that maps to the various capabilities in the CMM. Based on four rounds of targeted transportation expert interviews, the Negotiated Resilience Capability Maturity Model (NR-CMM) and tool are refined to reflect stakeholder feedback across multiple types of transportation agencies. The NR-CMM and self-assessment tool offer a practical method for state and local departments of transportation, metropolitan planning organizations, and other transportation agencies to assess their effectiveness across multiple areas affecting disruption absorption and community preparedness, including stakeholder involvement, internal and external education efforts, and disaster management.