How Public Organizations Manage Weather Risks: A Study of U.S. Transit Agencies

Zhang, Fengxiu; Zhang, Fengxiu

Over the past decade, extreme weather events (e.g., hurricanes, floods, tornadoes, heat waves) have caused massive social disruptions and economic losses across the United States. How to effectively manage weather risks, and mitigate their adverse impacts on citizens’ safety and public service delivery becomes an increasingly important issue for public organizations. However, the extant literature has provided limited empirical evidence on organizational decision making in coping with extreme weather events (Sadiq and Graham, 2015). This research aims to fill this gap by examining the risk-mitigating strategies employed by public agencies and the factors, both internal and external, which may shape their responses, preparedness and choice of strategies under weather risk and uncertainty.

More specifically, in this paper we focus on the public transit sector, in which both service operation and physical infrastructure are highly susceptible to the impacts of extreme weather events and climate disruptions. The study employs a unique dataset based on a national survey (funded by the Federal Transit Administration) of which the sample frame includes nearly 300 transit agencies in the United States and about 1,000 public managers who are in charge of transit operation, planning, maintenance, and engineering. Our analysis goes beyond the traditional focus on the emergency management approach and categorizes agency’s risk-mitigating strategies into two types: short-term reactive responses after extreme weather events emerge, and long-term systematic planning and preparation that account for potential extreme weather risks in the future. We then examine the factors that explain varied level of engagement in risk management approaches. Drawing on the organizational behavior literature and combining the survey data with agency-level data from National Transit Database (NTD), we investigate how prior experiences with extreme weather events, perceived risk, agency characteristics and capacity, and inter-organizational network structures jointly interact and affect risk-management decision-making within the public transit agencies. We are particularly interested in understanding the factors associated with modification of transit agency work routines and adoption of innovative approaches to planning, operation and investment.

Our findings contribute to the literature on organizational decision-making under risk and uncertainty, and provide a better understanding of the challenges faced by transit agencies in managing and mitigating severe weather risks. The paper aim to inform the development of decision tools and approaches that can more effectively respond to future weather related challenges that are often associated with climate change. Furthermore, our research entails important policy implications for building long-term social resilience through inter-organizational collaboration and coordination across public agencies.

Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management

Panel Paper: How Public Organizations Manage Weather Risks: A Study of U.S. Transit Agencies