The Role of Transit in Emergency Evacuation Special Report 294 (2008) / Chapter Skim
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5 Enhancing Transit's Role
5 Enhancing Transit's Role
Pages 118-138
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From page 118... ...
The committee's consensus position was informed by a literature review, briefings at its early meetings, an assessment of the role of transit in the publicly available online emergency response and evacu ation plans of the 38 largest UAs, five in-depth case studies conducted for this study, and the committee's own expertise and judgment. The chapter starts with a summary of the status of emergency evacuation plans and transit's role in those plans to set the context for the remainder of the discussion.
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From page 119... ...
integral part of local emergency response and operations plans. At the outset of this study, the committee planned to review the extent to which transit is included in the emergency evacuation plans of the 38 UAs.
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From page 120... ...
While recognizing that transit plays a supporting role in emergency response, the committee believes it is the mutual responsibility of transit agencies, as well as emergency managers, to ensure that transit is included in evacuation plans. Finding: Even among localities with evacuation plans, few have provided for a major disaster that could involve multiple jurisdictions or multiple states in a region and necessitate the evacuation of a large fraction of the population.
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From page 121... ...
in response to a major incident could be large. Thus, many emergency managers are attempting to develop scalable emergency response and evacuation plans that could be ramped up in the event of a major disaster.
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From page 122... ...
for public comment that provides guidance to state, local, and tribal governments on the preparation of emer gency operations plans. Both documents fall short, however, in providing sufficient detail on the development of mass evacuation plans, such as fail ing to include a template for a regional plan and the key agencies that should be involved.
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From page 123... ...
Such funding should continue to be made available, expanded to include all UAs with populations of more than 1 million, and directed toward regional evacuation planning. DHS should track the performance of the first round of grant recipients, report on their progress in meeting milestones and timetables, and develop a compendium of promising regional evacuation strategies that can be shared with other UAs. Incorporating Transit as a Full Partner in Emergency Evacuation Many transit agencies are regional authorities, providing service across juris dictions, and thus have a regional perspective that could be useful in develop ing regional evacuation plans.
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From page 124... ...
Nevertheless, the case studies conducted for this study provide a number of examples of locations where transit is a full partner in local emergency evacuation plans, and these examples could be instructive for other UAs. Finding: In those areas where transit is a full partner in local emergency evacuation plans, transit agencies have been involved in the development of such plans and are part of the designated emergency command structure.
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From page 125... ...
Recommendation 3: Transit agencies should participate with emergency management agencies and departments of transporta tion when evacuation plans are developed and should be full part ners in the command structure established to handle emergency response and evacuation. Box 5-2 details the planning requirements for fully incorporating transit into all phases of emergency response and evacuation plans.
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From page 126... ...
• nclude transit agencies and school districts and private school bus transportation I providers in area tabletop exercises and drills for emergency evacuation plans. Response • nsure that transit agencies are represented in the chain of command at incident E command posts and report to emergency operations centers when the latter are activated to provide resource support.
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From page 127... ...
U • onsider transit agency employees, who are being asked to play a major role in an C emergency evacuation, as essential personnel, along with personnel who provide police, fire, and emergency medical services. Recovery • oordinate with emergency managers, public safety planners, and other transit C providers to return carless evacuees to their original destinations if possible.
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From page 128... ...
Providing transit service for the carless or those who do not choose to use their vehicles will require considerable advance planning and coordination with local emergency managers. Meeting these surge requirements will also depend on the availability of transit drivers and the readiness of equipment, especially problematic at off-peak times; prearranged provisions for continuity of contracted transit services; and mutual-aid agreements with other providers (e.g., local school bus dis tricts, transit agencies in neighboring jurisdictions or states, the private sector)
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From page 129... ...
Fully interoperable communications systems remain a goal but not a real ity in most of the case study sites, where a variety of devices are used, includ ing hard-line, cell, and satellite phones; radios; and text messaging systems. In some UAs, major transit agencies are linked through real-time communi cations networks (e.g., Chicago Transit Alert Network, TRANSCOM in New York)
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From page 130... ...
However, these groups are inadequately addressed in most local emergency evacuation plans. Both the DHS and USDOT studies previously discussed identified a lack of adequate planning for the evacuation of special-needs populations as a critical shortcoming of emergency operations plans -- a finding echoed in numerous other reports (e.g., Bailey et al.
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From page 131... ...
Its role in emergency evacuation depends in part on how well that system is functioning. The poor condition and inadequate capacity of transportation systems in both older and newer UAs were raised by all the case study sites as a critical issue affecting evacuation by private vehicle as well as by transit.
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From page 132... ...
"Bricks and mortar" capacity enhancements might include not only adding redundancy to both transit and highway systems but also remov ing critical traffic bottlenecks on major evacuation routes. Such projects are sometimes controversial and must compete with other budgetary priorities for funding.
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From page 133... ...
First, good evacuation modeling can help inform emergency operations plans, particularly the movement of traffic away from danger ous areas in an emergency incident. Such models can be particularly help ful in those areas that do not regularly experience major incidents or large planned events, which provide an opportunity to test evacuation plans in real time.
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From page 134... ...
In Tampa, for exam ple, emergency managers in Hillsborough County worked closely with the housing authority to determine the transit needs of public housing resi dents located in evacuation zones, and transit agencies have planned to expand service in these areas should a hurricane necessitate evacuation. In Chicago, where no-notice events are more common, transit agencies have examined how much transit equipment can be mustered at different A study conducted for the Federal Transit Administration on the status of emergency planning for vulnerable populations in 20 metropolitan areas (Bailey et al.
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From page 135... ...
Emergency manag ers in Los Angeles, for example, have begun to explore how assets such as car rental fleets, airport shuttles, taxis, and other private van and bus fleets might be accessed in the event of a major emergency -- an approach that could benefit from more research on the most effective methods. The American Public Transportation Association's web-based national inven tory of transit property equipment, personnel, and contact information, which can be accessed by participating transit agencies in an emergency, offers another resource (see Chapter 2 for details)
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From page 136... ...
Local Actions With the exception of Recommendations 2 and 6, the committee's rec ommendations require the joint action of local emergency managers and transit agencies, which share responsibility for identifying a role for transit and incorporating that role in local area evacuation plans (Recommen dation 1)
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From page 137... ...
DHS and FEMA, in conjunction with USDOT, should provide more detailed guidance to state and local governments on how to develop regional evacuation plans that include the role of transit and other public transportation providers (Recommendation 2a)
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From page 138... ...
2007. Transportation Equity in Emergencies: A Review of the Practices of State Departments of Transportation, Metropolitan Planning Organizations, and Transit Agencies in 20 Metropolitan Areas.
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