Identification and prioritization of critical transportation infrastructure: Case study of coastal flooding

In order to better inform transportation decision makers of the criticality of transportation infrastructure, this paper explores an accessibility-based criticality prioritization methodology to identify and prioritize critical transportation infrastructure. In particular, the methodology evaluates the network-wide impacts of infrastructure degradation based on the increase in travel cost taking origin importance, destination attractiveness, and traffic congestion into account. The methodology is applied to the road network of Hillsborough County, Florida, threatened by flood risk from storm surge, sea-level rise, and intense precipitation. Light detection and ranging digital elevation data, transportation infrastructure and network data, and zone-based population data of the county are processed for analysis. The approach yields results of not only the criticality of transportation infrastructure under flooding impact but also the most vulnerable zones as a result of infrastructure inundation. The results show that some infrastructure is critical to adjacent areas, while some becomes important to a much broader region. The results further demonstrate that the infrastructure is more critical if it serves more people.