Emergency Evacuation Planning for Highly Populated Urban Zones: A Transit-Based Solution and Optimal Operational Strategies

Abstract

Natural and man-made disasters (e.g. hurricanes, floods, terrorist attacks) could cause huge economic loss and society damage. In many hazardous events, the best option is to relocate threatened populations to safer areas, which is commonly referred as emergency evacuation. During the process of evacuation, people would usually use their own vehicles to evacuate from the impacted area. However, there are some cases where people may not have access to reliable personal vehicles or using personal cars are not possible; then they need to rely on other forms of transportation. There are different modes of transportation that can be used to evacuate people, such as public transit, school buses, charter buses, demand-responsive vans, rail, and ambulances.