In the case, robust transportation systems are required to: a) absorb effects from disturbances that are caused due to several reasons and b) ensure operational continuity. A design approach that can serve such goals is resilience engineering. Resilience represents the ability of a system to react from stress that challenge its performance. This paper discusses the basic parameters of resilience engineering and analyses transportation systems, at a high level, in order to identify the key variables for a resilience design of them. Through the review of the respective literature, this paper indicates the specific parameters and factors that define the resilience engineering of transportation systems. In this way, a first step is take towards a holistic design of transportation systems that addresses apart from compliance with strategic goals and normal regulations that challenge the system’s performance according to the defined operational standards.