Dr. Beatriz Martinez-Pastor
Director, UCD Centre for Critical Infrastructures Research, Assistant Professor, School Civil Engineering
Transport networks are quietly celebrated when they work — and fully noticed when they fail. Beneath the smooth operation of roads, trains, ports and airports exists a growing, systemic vulnerability.
Climate volatility, ageing infrastructure, demographic change and complex travel behaviours are reshaping transport. These pressures accumulate slowly, sometimes unnoticed, until their impacts become sudden and severe.
Transport systems are difficult to change in the short term, as infrastructure projects are extensive, long-term and usually planned decades ahead. MetroLink, for example, will add valuable redundancy and accessibility to the Dublin network, but has taken years to plan and many more to complete.
Long-term thinking is essential — if we act too late, the problem will arrive before the solution.
Resilience requires seeing what others ignore
Food, medicines and goods depend on functioning transport, and if it’s disrupted, a country can quickly come to a standstill. Therefore, we must plan for a resilient transport network capable of operating during disruptive events.
However, sometimes the barrier is psychological. Decision-makers often need to justify spending through immediate returns, making long-term adaptation seem optional. But resilience isn’t about repairing what’s broken — it’s about anticipating what will break without action. Early investment prevents greater losses, reducing physical damage and the social and economic impacts of disruption.
we must plan for a resilient transport network capable of operating during disruptive events.
Understanding how a transport system behaves under stress — and how one disruption can trigger a cascade of failures — is essential for rapid adaptation and recovery. Only resilience models can reveal these dynamics, enabling testing of both familiar and unexpected risks. With limited budgets, this modelling becomes more than a technical tool: it’s a strategic compass. It ensures every euro is invested where it delivers the greatest protection, safeguarding the key connections that keep society moving.
Transformative data: the backbone of future mobility
Data is essential for building resilient transport systems. It reveals hidden risks, supports proactive planning and helps decision-makers respond more intelligently. One example is the SETO project, which aims to address fragmented, incomplete and non-standardised information across the sector. SETO will give authorities access to reliable and consistent information for enforcement of transport operations. Better data isn’t just an administrative improvement — it’s an investment in a more resilient system.
Resilience models transcend traditional indicators, enabling a more comprehensive and effective prioritisation of interventions.
