1.1 Purpose of White Paper

The purpose of this white paper is to document emergency evacuation plans and practices employed by transportation management organizations in several large metropolitan areas within the United States. This document discusses specific management practices using intelligent transportation systems (ITS) and related traffic management tools such as closed caption television (CCTV) cameras, dynamic message signs (DMS), highway advisory radio (HAR), 511 systems, Web sites, interconnected traffic signal systems, high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, and traffic signal priority for transit. This white paper documents interview results for 14 public and private transportation agencies from five large metropolitan areas. A total of 17 agencies were identified as ideal candidates for these interviews, but only 14 participated. The purpose of the interviews was to assess the state of the practice and state of the art in evacuation transportation management in different parts of the country in order to identify new tools and processes to help agencies plan for and manage evacuations where there is little or no advance warning. Thus, this document provides an analysis of some of the emergency evacuation plans and practices being employed by transportation management organizations within the United States.

June 26, 2006
Publication #FHWA-HOP-08-016