Resilient Design Guidelines for MBTA Bus Maintenance Yards

As the MBTA prepares to streamline services and build system resilience, Weston & Sampson prepared resilient design guidelines for bus maintenance facilities as part of a larger multi-disciplinary effort led by Jacobs.

We developed a resilient framework that considers both physical strategies and operational processes to help design teams meet performance thresholds given specific design parameters. The thresholds are structured to strengthen, maintain, and recover facility operations and service during extreme weather events by providing redundancy in power supply, roadway/access, bus service, workforce, and critical asset protection through strategies such as flood barriers and dry flood proofing. Our collaborative team, including sustainability, structural, MEP, fire safety, civil/landscaping, and architectural disciplines, developed specific climate adaptation strategy recommendations that future designers can use to meet the thresholds, along with user-friendly forms to track and measure performance.