In this episode of the Environmental Technical Assistance Program or ETAP podcast, host Bernie Wagenblast interviews Ed Sniffen (seen above at right), deputy director for highways at the Hawaii Department of Transportation, regarding how his agency is focused on improving infrastructure resiliency.

Sniffen also serves as the chair of the Committee on Transportation System Security and Resilience for the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

The mission of the TSSR committee is to coordinate national response efforts, identifies best practices, and fills research gaps to promote resilient and secure transportation systems across the country.

“For us, resilience has always been our ability to respond to and recover from a disaster or any disruption of the transportation system,” Sniffen explained on the podcast.

“But because of the way we operated, we were extremely reactive – meaning we didn’t plan for these events or adapt to things that were coming. That made our response effort extremely inefficient,” he added. “Now, we spend more time planning for disasters, so the resources we need to respond and to recover are much less while at the same time disruption to the transportation system and public is minimized.”

To hear more of Sniffen’s insight into Hawaii DOT’s resilience efforts, click here.