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Research Proposal PDF
Research Proposal PDF
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
I have strong interest in exploring how to ensure climate-resilient transport system in the
region through adaptation of appropriate actions. Adaptation approach is recognized as an
urgent and important complement to climate mitigation. Adjusting to address ongoing and
future climate change will help to reduce the severity of climate change impacts as well as
to strengthen resilience and maintaining business continuity. The new research study
would seek effective proactive steps to assess vulnerability of the urban transport system to
climate variations and provide guidance on how adaptation issues can be considered in the
transportation investment decision making for achieving a sustainable transport system in
the region.
a. Research Topic
- Field of Study: Adaptation Actions in the Urban Transport System in the Greater
Mekong Sub-Region (GMS)
- Tentative Research Title: Planning for Climate - resilient Urban Transport
Network in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region: A Case Study of Cambodias Road
Network.
b. Research Scope
Impacts of Climate Change and challenges to climate adaptation in the urban transport
system with identification of Climate Forcing and Types of Stress will be comprehensively
reviewed. Vulnerability of the urban transport system to a set of climate scenarios of
greatest relevance and at-risk geographic areas per climate scenarios are to be defined on
hazard maps. In addition to the assessment of vulnerability of modes, impact on operations
or demand and prioritize modes, the study will cover the exploration on how adaptation
issues might be considered in urban transport system planning, project development,
operations and maintenance. The study is going to deal with the following questions:
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HENG Salpiseth, PhD Research Proposal April 17, 2012
1. What are the potential risks of climate change posed on the existing urban transport
system?
2. What are the feasible adaptation options for each mode of urban transport system?
3. What are the economic consequences and cost-benefit tradeoffs of action versus
inaction?
4. How to incorporate most feasible adaptive options into system planning to achieve a
better Business Continuity Plan
However, considering the limitation of study period, the study will focus mainly on the
road network whereas the other modes of urban transport system will be recommended for
future study. The study will particularly stress on optimizing the most feasible options in
the resilient road network planning considering a better Business Continuity Plan in the
process. The impacts of climate change on road network in Cambodia will be examined as
a case study in this research.
c. Research Objectives
The research objectives are:
- to explore what and how adaptation actions should be considered in urban transport
system planning, project development, operations and maintenance and what are
the variables and technical requirements to support feasible and effective risk
management responses in Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS)
- to establish a versatile model optimizing the most appropriate adaptation actions for
a resilient urban transport system in the Greater Mekong Sub-region
Adaptation measures are needed both to resist disruption and to recover rapidly afterwards.
Therefore, these responses need to foster the resilience of the urban transport system
through strengthening of the robustness of the system and the rapidity of recovery after
experiencing with extreme climate events. The study would serve as a resource for
professionals involved in transportation decision-making processes.
What is more, the study would contribute to decision making on how to incorporate
disaster (risk) management issues in the transport and logistic sectors in order to improve
quality of life and maintain economic growth. For instance, year 2011 was considered a
special one for Japans and some ASEAN countriess disaster history. During the Recent
ASEAN-Japan Adhoc Expert Meeting for Cooperation on Disaster Prevention in the
Transport Sector in March 2012, each ASEAN Country member state and Japan shared
lessons learned from the past natural disasters and their experience and prepareness for
disaster response, particularly on the implications of disasters for transport infrastructures.
Business Continuity Plan (BCP) for the Transport Sector is one of the major discussion
topics. It is recognized that risk management against natural disasters should be introduced
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HENG Salpiseth, PhD Research Proposal April 17, 2012
further into the transport operation and well preparedness was necessary for mitigation of
damaged occurred by disaster.
e. Methodology
Below is methodology for the proposed research study.
identify the relevant effects of climate change and the responses to the climate impact in
the urban transport system. Journals, books, and other relevant international and national
publications including the documents published by the Mekong River Committee (MRC),
central government, local governments, universities, research institutes, private agencies as
well as the documents from the Informal Donor Meetings on Climate Change in
Cambodia, will be examined throughout the study. The review will include the analysis on
the consideration of climate change effects on urban transport system in the current
governments policy and legislation. ASEAN agreements on disaster management and
response exercises will be also studied.
Questionnaire Design (May Jun 2013), Field Survey and Interview (Sep Oct 2013):
The study will be complimented with designed questionnaires addressing to key
stakeholders in the sectors of Climate Change and Transport. The stakeholder
questionnaires are designed for selected urban transport network operators, central and
local government authorities in Cambodia and GMS countries, donor community, and
research institutions. The inquiry will be made on their research needs, adaptation
responses and perceived barriers to how urban transport system are planned, designed,
operated and maintained to address the effects of climate change. In the later part of the
study, a qualitative survey will be done throughout the research with interviewing of key
Cambodian government officials and donor representatives in Cambodia and the region
(such as members of the Infrastructure and Regional Integration Technical Working
Group, members of the Informal Donor Meeting on Climate Change, and members of the
ASEAN land transport working group) on the perceptions of climate change effects on the
urban transport system as well as their planned responses to cope with the future risks. The
relevant responses from the interviewed recipients will be also taken into account to
discuss on how projected climate impacts, climate variability, mitigations, and adaptation
strategies need to be considered in transportation investment decisions.
Assessment of vulnerability and hazard maps of road transport (April June 2014):
Spatial GIS mapped data of road transport networks will be used identify the transport
assets currently affected by weather conditions. Vulnerability map of existing road network
with assessment of sensitivity by facility, section or function will be defined.
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HENG Salpiseth, PhD Research Proposal April 17, 2012
Model formulation and evaluation of adaptation actions through model validation on real
road transport network (Jan Dec 2014):
Adaptive options based on the literature review above and analysis above will be
prioritized using economic cost-benefit analysis of adaptive responses with defining
tradeoffs, and select alternative course of action. A complex mathematics model for
optimizing cost of countermeasures on the road network under different durations and
magnitudes of incident scenarios will be proposed in order to plan and provide more
resilient road network. The model is to be developed with consideration of the recovery at
early stage through resilient road transport system for better Business Continuity Plan.
Define sources of funding, disscussion, recommendation and conclusion (Jan June 2015):
It is important to find ways to avoid compromising short-term system efficiency and
mobility objectives over long term adaptation projects such as increased costs of
maintenance, retrofitting, redesign, rebuilding, or relocation. Responses from the interview
above will be discussed on possible source of funding the climate adaptation.
Finally, the study will discuss how to incorporate most feasible adaptation actions into the
planning of urban transport system throughout sensivity analysis.
f. Expected Outcomes
The expected outcomes of the proposed study are:
2. Target Conferences
o Australian Transport Research Forum (ATRF) 2014, 2015
o Eastern Asia Society for Transportation Studies (EASTS) 2015
o World Conference on Transport Research Society (WCTRS) 2015
o Other conferences relevant to Transportation and Climate Change
3. Target Journals
o Emerald journals: International Journal of Climate Change Strategies and
Management
o Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment
o Transport Policy (Journal of WCTRS)
o Journal of EASTS 2015
o Other scientific Journals relevant to Transportation and Climate Change
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