Operation of multimodal transport system during mass evacuations
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-1-2015
Abstract
Among the shortcomings identified in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans was the need for improved disaster planning for persons without access to personal transportation. Inadequate advanced planning for limited mobility evacuees in New Orleans prior to 2005 left a significant portion of the local population unable to flee in advance of the storm. Since 2005, state and local officials in Louisiana have developed transit assisted mass evacuation plans that now seek to accommodate carless populations. Since this plan is relatively new and does not have a history of experience on which to base its performance, it is difficult to know how well, or even if, it will work. Recently, an effort was undertaken to apply microscopic scale traffic simulation to evaluate key aspects of the New Orleans assisted evacuation plan. This study is thought to be significant because it is among the first ever to model transit bus-based evacuation processes, including the loading and unloading and the movement of individual evacuees and vehicles. Although this was a simulation-based theoretical study, the routes, timing and movements of people and busses are based on the actual plan and the results of the model have been verified, validated, and calibrated to capture the essence of the Hurricane Katrina evacuation process of 2005. This paper describes the development of this model as well as the results gained from it. In the research, two sets of transit bus routing scenarios were developed and modeled for New Orleans. Measures such as evacuation time, average travel time, average evacuation speed, and queue length were used to evaluate the performance of the transit bus movements within the general evacuation. Additional measures such as the walking and waiting times of evacuees moving to bus pick-up points were also used to assess loading processes. Among the general findings of the research was that routing busses to alternate arterial routes reduced the overall travel time by as much as 53% and the total evacuation time by up to 10% in some cases. It was also found that the transit evacuation had quite small impacts on the overall movement of evacuation traffic, but did increase queue lengths on some segments of the evacuation network. Finally, it was found that the planned location of bus pick-up points limited average walking time for evacuees to a half hour or less.
Publication Source (Journal or Book title)
Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering
First Page
81
Last Page
88
Recommended Citation
Naghawi, H., & Wolshon, B. (2015). Operation of multimodal transport system during mass evacuations. Canadian Journal of Civil Engineering, 42 (2), 81-88. https://doi.org/10.1139/cjce-2014-0177