The Role of Transit in Emergency Evacuation Special Report 294 (2008) / Chapter Skim
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1 Introduction
1 Introduction
Pages 19-27
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From page 19... ...
One senior official demanded that the system be shut down out of fear of further ter rorism, while others wanted to requisition transit cars to move emergency equipment. New Orleans had an emergency plan to rely on transit for the 100,000 to 200,000 New Orleans residents estimated to be without means of private transportation, but the plan failed utterly during Hurricane Katrina because few drivers reported to work; equipment was inad equate; and, perhaps most important, communications and incident command were nonexistent.
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The study request originated with Congressman William Pascrell, Jr., who represents northern New Jersey, and was included in the most recent reauthorization of surface transportation legislation -- the 2005 Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (see Appendix A) . Having wit nessed the critical role of transit in the events of September 11, Congressman Pascrell noted that redundancy among transportation modes is important in an emergency but that transit is frequently overlooked in emergency plan ning.
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From page 21... ...
An examination of larger incidents is more likely to illuminate the com mand structure, communications systems, and coordination capabilities necessary for transit and other agencies to operate as successful partners in an emergency evacuation. The primary audiences for this report are congressional staff and the Fed eral Transit Administration sponsors, as well as transit operators, emergency managers, and state and local departments of transportation.
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From page 22... ...
Study Approach Conceptual Framework Figure 1-2 depicts the conceptual framework for the study, which is orga nized around the four major elements of effective emergency planning -- mitigation, preparedness, response, and recovery. The figure lists the major factors affecting an area's ability to respond to an emergency: the type of event -- advance-notice (e.g., hurricane)
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From page 23... ...
; and available resources. The figure also notes the factors that affect transit's likely response in an emergency: the potential demand for transit services, which in turn depends largely on the socioeconomic characteristics of the population (i.e., the extent of transit dependence)
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The committee drew on other relevant work, but there were many gaps to fill. To that end, the committee initiated its own T he Federal Transit Administration shared the results and selected source documents of a study completed by Milligan & Company, LLC (Bailey et al.
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The committee's final task was to conduct five in-depth case studies as a complement to its more summary plan assessment. The committee drew on the conceptual framework depicted in Figure 1-2 in selecting the case study sites.
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From page 26... ...
During off peak hours, such as midday, it takes time to recall people and equipment in the event of an emergency requiring evacuation. Similarly, an event that simply requires shifting service away from a particular area or even conducting a partial evacuation places far less demand on the system than one that requires a large-scale evacuation, multiple trips to take customers and the carless out of the area, and potential diversion of some equipment to help support emergency responders.
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From page 27... ...
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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