NIST transportation systems and functional recovery workshop report
Authors: Beyzaei Christine Z , Johnson Katherine J , Nikolaou Sissy , Sattar Siamak , Dukes Jazalyn , Saadat Yalda 
Published: September 2023

Current codes and standards for seismic design are based on a life-safety approach, meaning that the focus is on saving lives when an earthquake occurs. The most recent reauthorization of the National Earthquake Hazards Reduction Program (NEHRP), P.L. 115-307 recognizes that to strengthen America’s resilience to earthquakes, it is necessary to advance beyond a life-safety approach towards also preserving the functionality of buildings and lifeline infrastructure systems. This would enable community members to return to their homes and businesses, and resume community activities, more quickly after an earthquake occurs. One new target under development for extending performance beyond life safety is referred to as “functional recovery.” A committee of subject matter experts organized by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) identified options and recommendations for moving the Nation
towards functional recovery in a report titled “FEMA P-2090/NIST SP-1254: Recommended options for improving the built environment for post-earthquake reoccupancy and functional recovery time”, or the “NISTFEMA Report.” Recommendation 1 from the NIST-FEMA Report provides an overarching recommendation to “Develop a Framework for Post-Earthquake Reoccupancy and Functional Recovery Objectives.” Recommendation 4 from the NIST-FEMA Report addresses lifeline infrastructure systems, with the recommendation being to “Design, Upgrade, and Maintain Lifeline Infrastructure Systems to Meet Recovery-Based Objectives.” Lifeline infrastructure systems include transportation systems such as roads, highways, bridges, rail, and ports. This document summarizes a NIST-organized workshop held in September 2022 on transportation systems and functional recovery. The event enabled discussion, knowledge transfer, and interaction with subject matter experts from both research and practitioner
backgrounds on mechanisms for improving functional recovery and resilience of transportation systems for earthquake events. Invited speakers were selected to provide representation from diverse groups and presentations were shared on both research and practical projects or programs, including from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA). Informed by past projects and interactions with FHWA, the topical areas for presentations were designed to provide workshop attendees with an overview of cutting-edge research, practice, and ongoing federal programs to broaden perspectives and stimulate cross-disciplinary insights throughout the day. The workshop also included breakout sessions, report-outs, and discussion among workshop attendees on key questions to identify the current status, challenges, priorities, and future vision for transportation systems and functional recovery. This effort is a continuation of earlier efforts in developing the NIST-FEMA Report to explore options
for functional recovery and is not intended to set any functional recovery goals or recovery times for transportation systems. It is intended provide insights on functional recovery and transportation systems and inform development of a functional recovery framework. This report details the discussion and important themes that emerged from the workshop. The insights gained from the workshop will help to identify research needs and paths forward to continue working toward Recommendation 1 and Recommendation 4 of the NIST-FEMA Report.