NJ Transit Resilience Planning - Rutgers Support Services

Project Description

Rutgers’ Center for Advanced Infrastructure and Transportation (CAIT) is among an elite group of U.S. Department of Transportation-sanctioned academic institutions working to advance transportation research, technology, and resilience. When CAIT was selected by New Jersey Transit (NJ TRANSIT) to update the agency’s resilience design standards and develop a framework for its future design efforts, they turned to Biohabitats for help.

Biohabitats began by assessing the ability to deploy ecological tools and nature-based solutions to improve the resilience of NJ TRANSIT infrastructure while also reducing its ecological impacts. Among the strategies assessed were green stormwater infrastructure, habitat corridor enhancement, and native landscaping. Biohabitats also recommended expanding NJ TRANSIT’s guidelines to include all assets (rail lines, stations, parking lots, bus depots, etc.) to increase opportunities to integrate living infrastructure that improves resilience and provides ecological uplift.

Working alongside CAIT and project team members Columbia University and Arcadis,
Biohabitats incorporated findings into a comprehensive “Road Map” to guide NJ TRANSIT in increasing the resiliency of its network. The Road Map provides standardized guidance for identifying, planning, and implementing specific resiliency projects, as well as resiliency metrics to use in evaluating the effectiveness of specific projects.