Resilience Management in Public Transport

17 - 19 November 2025

New Jersey, USA

Rutgers Newark

Organisers

Global North America Resilience

Public transport networks are vulnerable to a wide array of incidents that can disrupt or terminate services temporarily. It is crucial to prepare in advance and manage these situations effectively during a crisis. These incidents range from accidents and natural events such as floods, typhoons, and earthquakes to terrorist attacks. They can vary from minor, localized emergencies to full-scale crises and everything in between.

Effective planning and regular practice of response strategies are essential to ensure business continuity and maintain a resilient network. When an incident occurs, a coordinated and well-managed response is vital.

Climate change is a real and pressing phenomenon impacting human life and necessitating changes in standard business practices. Public transport services and infrastructure must adapt to the effects of climate change.

In addition to natural disasters and climate change, public transport services are also vulnerable to financial crises and other incidents that pose financial risks to service provision.

The aim of this training program is to equip participants with best practices and knowledge regarding natural disasters and financial crisis enabling them to benchmark and enhance their emergency preparedness, response, recovery plans and business continuity.

What You Will Learn?

Understand the key elements of resilience in public transport
Explain the fundamentals of risk and crisis management
Develop and implement a safety management plan to ensure system’s & passenger safety
Learning about climate adaptation and benchmarking with international best practices
Understanding how to incorporate resiliency in capital planning
Get learned how to implement preventive measures against natural disasters

Who is it for?

Executives, managers, supervisors, and coordinators from public transport service providers
City governors, directors or managers from city authorities
Relevant staff from public transport operators, authorities or the manufacturer and stakeholders
Professionals interested in obtaining a wider and international perspective in resilience in public transport and eager to learn more from best practice worldwide
The course welcomes junior and senior professionals worldwide.

Programme

Welcome & Introduction to the Course

08:30 – 09:00

Session 1A

Resilience in public transport is about ensuring that our transport systems can continue to operate and quickly recover from any disruptions, whether they are caused by natural disasters, accidents, technological failures, climate events or human-made incidents. By investing in resilience, we can provide reliable and safe transportation services, safeguard the wellbeing of passengers and staff, and maintain the economic and social functions that depend on effective public transport networks

Type of distributions:
Climate resilience
Financial resilience,
Operational resilience
Resilience against natural and climate disasters
Components of resilience: Preparedness, response, recovery, adaptation

Session 1B

The concept of “risk” in the context of natural hazards and climate change involves understanding the potential for adverse effects from events such as hurricanes, flash floods, riverine and coastal flooding, high winds, erosion, frost events, extreme heat, and saltwater exposure. The science behind these natural hazards includes studying their interactions with infrastructure, which is crucial for preparing and mitigating their impacts. Climate change science delves into the causes and effects of global warming, providing short-, mid-, and long-term climate projections. It’s important to recognize geographic differences in weather events and climate change impacts, tailoring discussions to specific regions. The concept of “flood projections” involves methodologies and techniques used to project and model climate events, helping us understand what projections indicate about short, mid, and long-term climate models.

Break

10:30 – 11:00

Case Study

Present climate challenges for rail
Projections for future climate challenges
Recommendations for adaptive measures to improve resilience
Thoughts about socio-economic prioritizing and network availability

Session 2

Wider impacts into society, adaptive capacity, cascading impacts, interdependencies, risk etc.
Description of what adapting to climate change looks like and how to approach it.
Setting climate change in the wider sustainability context and highlighting the benefits of climate change adaptation for broader sustainability.

Lunch

12:15 – 13:00

Session 3

Effective emergency management in public transport is crucial to ensure the safety of passengers and staff, minimize service disruptions, and enable quick recovery.

Risk assessment and methodology
Climate risk analysis and assessment
Emergency types and organizations
Action plans and mitigation
Risk reduction processes

Local Context: Introduction to Emergency Management Principals for Public Transport in the United States

14:00 – 14:30

Using Lessons Learned to Build Resilience in Disaster Preparedness

14:30 – 15:00

Break

15:00 – 15:30

Panel discussion, Reflection and Wrap-up of Day 1

15:30 – 16:00

Session 5

Crisis organizations and meetings
Risk escalation levels
Crisis room, meetings and agenda
Crisis communications
Customer service & communications

Break

10:30 – 11:15

Case Study

Sam LONGMAN, Head of Sustainability and Corp. Environment, TFL, London Climate change adaptation for public transport involves implementing strategies and measures to enhance the resilience and functionality of transport systems in the face of changing climate conditions. Upgrading and retrofitting infrastructure to withstand extreme weather events such as floods, hurricanes, and heatwaves is crucial. This includes reinforcing bridges, roads, rail tracks, and transit stations to prevent damage and ensure continued operation. By addressing all necessary mitigations of measures to enhance resiliency, public transport systems can better adapt to the challenges posed by climate change, ensuring safety, reliability, and sustainability for future generations.

Lunch

12:00 – 13:00

Case Study

Climate disasters and possible impacts on public transport networks
Building resilience public transport networks
Precaution systems

Session 6

Climate events significantly impact public transport systems in various ways, affecting infrastructure, facilities, operations, and overall reliability. Extreme weather events such as hurricanes, floods, and high winds can damage roads, bridges, railways, and transit stations. Flooding can lead to erosion, weakening the foundations of these structures, and requiring costly repairs or replacements. Service interruptions, delays, repair & maintenance costs, reliability of public transport system are subjected to any climate events. Climate events pose significant challenges to public transport systems, requiring robust adaptation and resilience strategies to ensure safety, reliability, and sustainability.

Break

15:00 – 15:30

Group Findings, Reflection and Wrap-up of Day 2

15:30 – 16:00

Session 7

Understanding different modeling strategies for coastal, riverine, and stormwater events involves exploring the specific purposes, applications, and key terms of each model type, including how storm surge and wave action are modeled. Operations and maintenance considerations for flood-resistant structures and features must be managed carefully to ensure their effectiveness. Engineering these structures requires a thorough understanding of models and various considerations before construction. A detailed dive into flood modeling, hydrology and hydraulics (H&H) modeling, and climate risk quantification is essential. Additionally, distinguishing between different climate projections and resources and learning how to implement them in projects is crucial. It’s important to recognize the differences in providing flood protection for discrete facilities or yards versus continuous assets like railways and roadways.

Break

10:00 – 10:30

Climate Risk Management & Communication

10:30 – 12:00

Lunch

12:00 – 13:00

Session 8

Ensuring business continuity in public transport requires a robust framework that integrates financial and operational resilience. This approach is vital to maintain uninterrupted service and swiftly recover from any disruptions including climate events, accidents, attacks, and natural disasters.

Financial Planning and Risk Management
Fare revenue and secondary revenue resources
Funding alternatives for sustainable public transport
How to set up resilient public transport operation and organization
Operational recovery plans

Session 9

Challenges in US e.g. Wildfires, tornadoes and hurricanes
Federal regulations and bigger picture in US
Case Study: Resiliency and Climate adaptation solutions in NY

Wrap-up & Conclusions

15:30 – 16:00

A Top Level Methodology

Get inspired by our trainers, understand the main concepts and learn from successful best practice
Participate in interactive plenary sessions with introductions by course leaders, presentations by trainers and open discussions with participants
Challenge your practical knowledge on resilience, climate change, disasters and business continuity
Address the topic from an international perspective, enriched by different cultural approaches and points of views
Participate to practical exercises and case studies and local context
Benefit from a unique exchange of knowledge and experience between professionals

UITP Training Programs and all related processes are certified for ISO 21001: 2018 – the standard for Educational organisations – Management systems for educational organisations.

	Early bird – Until 12 October Register now	Standard – After 12 October Register now	Groups 4 or more persons Register now
Registration Fees	USD 1,450	USD 1,850	USD 1,250

Practical information

When and where?

From November 17-19, 2025 / All sessions will start at 9:00 am

Rutgers Newark — Ruth Bader Ginsburg Hall Seminar Room 201
15 Washington St, Newark, NJ 07102

*UITP reserves the right to make amendments to the programme or any related activity at its discretion.

What material do I receive?

Course materials (presentations and workshop documents) are made available to the participants
Certificate of Attendance

How does it work?

A 3-days classroom course with presentations and case studies by trainers, discussions with the audience and workshops.
Morning and afternoon sessions including coffee breaks and lunch break.
The course will be conducted in English.

Hotel Suggestions

Hampton Inn & Suites Newark-Harrison-Riverwalk
100 Passaic Ave
Harrison, NJ 07029

Robert Treat Hotel
50 Park Pl
Newark, NJ 07102

TRYP by Wyndham Newark Downtown
24 E Park St
Newark, NJ 07102

Courtyard by Marriott Newark Downtown
858 Broad St
Newark, NJ 07102

DoubleTree by Hilton Newark Penn Station
1048 Raymond Blvd
Newark, NJ 07102

What You Will Learn?

Who is it for?

Programme

Welcome & Introduction to the Course

Introduction to Resilience in Public Transportation

Introduction to the physics of climate events

Break

Rail Climate Adaption

Foundation of climate change adaptation and extreme weather resilience

Lunch

Climate Risks & Emergency Management Principles

Local Context: Introduction to Emergency Management Principals for Public Transport in the United States

Using Lessons Learned to Build Resilience in Disaster Preparedness

Break

Panel discussion, Reflection and Wrap-up of Day 1

Crisis Management & Communications

Break

Climate change adaptation

Lunch

Adaptation Climate Change Enhancing Public Transport Resilience

Climate Events Impact on Public Transport Systems

Break

Group Findings, Reflection and Wrap-up of Day 2

Modelling, Planning, and Engineering Site Specific Resiliency Infrastructure: Flooding

Break

Climate Risk Management & Communication

Lunch

Business continuity with financial & operational resilience

Resiliency and Climate Adaptation

Wrap-up & Conclusions

A Top Level Methodology

Pricing

Practical information

When and where?

What material do I receive?

How does it work?

Hotel Suggestions

Register Now

Organisers

Partners