Transportation's Role in Emergency Evacuation and Reentry (2009)

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96+ pages; Perfect Bind with SPine COPY = 14 pts Transportation’s Role in Emergency Evacuation and Reentry NatioNal cooperative HigHway researcH programNCHRP syNtHesis 392 N CH R P Synthesis 392 need SPine Width Job no. XXXX _ nChRP# XXX Pantone 202 CV TRaNSPoRTaTioN ReSeaRCH BoaRd 500 Fifth Street, n W W ashington, dC 20001 a d d R eSS SeR viCe R eq ueSTed TRB A Synthesis of Highway Practice n o n -profit O rg. U.S. Postage PA ID W ashington, dC Perm it n o . 8970 Transportation’s Role in em ergency evacuation and Reentry

need SPine Width Abbreviations used without definition in TRB Publications: AAAE American Association of Airport Executives AASHO American Association of State Highway Officials AASHTO American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials ACI–NA Airports Council International–North America ACRP Airport Cooperative Research Program ADA Americans with Disabilities Act APTA American Public Transportation Association ASCE American Society of Civil Engineers ASME American Society of Mechanical Engineers ASTM American Society for Testing and Materials ATA Air Transport Association ATA American Trucking Associations CTAA Community Transportation Association of America CTBSSP Commercial Truck and Bus Safety Synthesis Program DHS Department of Homeland Security DOE Department of Energy EPA Environmental Protection Agency FAA Federal Aviation Administration FHWA Federal Highway Administration FMCSA Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration FRA Federal Railroad Administration FTA Federal Transit Administration IEEE Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ISTEA Intermodal Surface Transportation Efficiency Act of 1991 ITE Institute of Transportation Engineers NASA National Aeronautics and Space Administration NASAO National Association of State Aviation Officials NCFRP National Cooperative Freight Research Program NCHRP National Cooperative Highway Research Program NHTSA National Highway Traffic Safety Administration NTSB National Transportation Safety Board SAE Society of Automotive Engineers SAFETY-LU Safe, Accountable, Flexible, Efficient Transportation Equity Act: A Legacy for Users (2005) TCRP Transit Cooperative Research Program TEA-21 Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (1998) TRB Transportation Research Board TSA Transportation Security Administration U.S.DOT United States Department of Transportation

TransporTaTion research Board Washington, D.C. 2009 www.tRB.org NAT IONAL COOPERAT IVE H IGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM NCHRP SyntheSiS 392 Research sponsored by the american association of state highway and transportation officials in Cooperation with the Federal highway administration Subject AreAS Planning and administration, highway operations, Capacity, and traffic Control, and security Transportation’s Role in Emergency Evacuation and Reentry A Synthesis of Highway Practice conSultAnt BRian WoLshon Louisiana state University

NATIONAL COOPERATIVE HIGHWAY RESEARCH PROGRAM Systematic, well-designed research provides the most effective approach to the solution of many problems facing highway administra- tors and engineers. Often, highway problems are of local interest and can best be studied by highway departments individually or in coop- eration with their state universities and others. However, the acceler- ating growth of highway transportation develops increasingly complex problems of wide interest to highway authorities. These problems are best studied through a coordinated program of cooperative research. In recognition of these needs, the highway administrators of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials initiated in 1962 an objective national highway research program employing modern scientific techniques. This program is supported on a continuing basis by funds from participating member states of the Association and it receives the full cooperation and support of the Federal Highway Administration, United States Department of Transportation. The Transportation Research Board of the National Research Council was requested by the Association to administer the research program because of the Board’s recognized objectivity and under- standing of modern research practices. The Board is uniquely suited for this purpose as it maintains an extensive committee structure from which authorities on any highway transportation subject may be drawn; it possesses avenues of communication and cooperation with federal, state, and local governmental agencies, universities, and industry; its relationship to the National Research Council is an insurance of objec- tivity; it maintains a full-time research correlation staff of specialists in highway transportation matters to bring the findings of research directly to those who are in a position to use them. The program is developed on the basis of research needs identified by chief administrators of the highway and transportation departments and by committees of AASHTO. Each year, specific areas of research needs to be included in the program are proposed to the National Research Council and the Board by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials. Research projects to fulfill these needs are defined by the Board, and qualified research agencies are selected from those that have submitted proposals. Administration and surveillance of research contracts are the responsibilities of the National Research Council and the Transportation Research Board. The needs for highway research are many, and the National Cooperative Highway Research Program can make significant contri- butions to the solution of highway transportation problems of mutual concern to many responsible groups. The program, however, is intended to complement rather than to substitute for or duplicate other highway research programs. NCHRP SYNTHESIS 392 Project 20-5 (Topic 39-05) ISSN 0547-5570 ISBN 978-0-309-098311 Library of Congress Control No. 2009900727 © 2009 Transportation Research Board COPYRIGHT PERMISSION Authors herein are responsible for the authenticity of their manuscripts and for obtaining written permissions from publishers or persons who own the copyright to any previously published or copyrighted material used herein. Cooperative Research Programs (CRP) grants permission to repro- duce material in this publication for classroom and not-for-profit purposes. Permission is given with the understanding that non of the material will be used to imply TRB, AASHTO, FAA, FHWA, FMSCA, FTA, or Transit development Corporation endorsement of a particular product, method, or practice. It is expected that those reproducing the material in this document for educational and not-for-profit uses will give appropriate acknowledgment of the source of any development or reproduced material. For other uses of the material, request permission from CRP. noTice The project that is the subject of this report was a part of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program conducted by the Transporta- tion Research Board with the approval of the Governing Board of the National Research Council. Such approval reflects the Governing Board’s judgment that the program concerned is of national impor- tance and appropriate with respect to both the purposes and resources of the National Research Council. The members of the technical committee selected to monitor this project and to review this report were chosen for recognized scholarly competence and with due consideration for the balance of disciplines appropriate to the project. The opinions and conclusions expressed or implied are those of the research agency that performed the research, and, while they have been accepted as appropriate by the technical committee, they are not necessarily those of the Transportation Research Board, the National Research Council, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, or the Federal Highway Administration of the U.S. Department of Transportation. Each report is reviewed and accepted for publication by the tech- nical committee according to procedures established and monitored by the Transportation Research Board Executive Committee and the Governing Board of the National Research Council. Published reports of the naTionaL cooperaTiVe hiGhWaY research proGraM are available from: Transportation Research Board Business Office 500 Fifth Street NW Washington, DC 20001 and can be ordered through the Internet at: http://www.national-academies.org/trb/bookstore Printed in the United States of America NOTE: The Transportation Research Board of the National Academies, the National Research Council, the Federal Highway Administration, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and the individual states participating in the National Cooperative Highway Research Program do not endorse products or manufacturers. Trade or manufacturers’ names appear herein solely because they are considered essential to the object of this report.

thE nationaL aCaDEMiEs Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. On the authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone is president of the National Academy of Sciences. The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements of engineers. Dr. Charles M. Vest is president of the National Academy of Engineering. The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to be an adviser to the federal government and, on its own initiative, to identify issues of medical care, research, and education. Dr. Harvey V. Fineberg is president of the Institute of Medicine. The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy’s purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Ralph J. Cicerone and Dr. Charles M. Vest are chair and vice chair, respectively, of the National Research Council. The Transportation Research Board is one of six major divisions of the National Research Council. The mission of the Transportation Research Board is to provide leadership in transportation innovation and progress through research and information exchange, conducted within a setting that is objective, interdisciplinary, and multimodal. The Board’s varied activities annually engage about 7,000 engineers, scientists, and other transportation researchers and practitioners from the public and private sectors and academia, all of whom contribute their expertise in the public interest. The program is supported by state transportation departments, federal agencies including the component administrations of the U.S. Department of Transportation, and other organizations and individuals interested in the development of transportation. www.TRB.org www.national-academies.org

nchrp coMMiTTee For proJecT 20-5 chair GARY D. TAYLOR, CTE Engineers MeMBers KATHLEEN S. AMES, Illinois DOT STUART D. ANDERSON, Texas A&M University CYNTHIA J. BURBANK, PB Americas, Inc. LISA FREESE, Scoot County (MN) Public Works Division MALCOLM T. KERLEY, Virginia DOT RICHARD D. LAND, California DOT JAMES W. MARCH, Federal Highway Administration MARK A. MAREK, Texas DOT JOHN M. MASON, JR., Auburn University ANANTH PRASAD, HNTB Corporation ROBERT L. SACK, New York State DOT FRANCINE SHAW-WHITSON, Federal Highway Administration LARRY VELASQUEZ, New Mexico DOT FhWa Liaison WILLIAM ZACCAGNINO TrB Liaison STEPHEN F. MAHER coVer FiGUre: Evacuation of Houston Area for Hurricane Rita, I-45. cooperaTiVe research proGraMs sTaFF CHRISTOPHER W. JENKS, Director, Cooperative Research Programs CRAWFORD F. JENCKS, Deputy Director, Cooperative Research Programs NANDA SRINIVASAN, Senior Program Officer EILEEN DELANEY, Director of Publications nchrp sYnThesis sTaFF STEPHEN R. GODWIN, Director for Studies and Special Programs JON M. WILLIAMS, Program Director, IDEA and Synthesis Studies GAIL STABA, Senior Program Officer DONNA L. VLASAK, Senior Program Officer DON TIPPMAN, Editor CHERYL KEITH, Senior Program Assistant Topic paneL JAY BAKER, Florida State University BOB FRENCH, Maryland State Highway Administration STEPHEN W. GLASCOCK, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development MICHAEL E. LEONARD, METRO–Houston GERARD McCARTY, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey CYNTHIA L. MONTZ, Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development RICHARD PAIN, Transportation Research Board ROBERT STEWART, Alaska Division of Homeland Security and Emergency Management LISA VIETH, Missouri Department of Transportation JAMES L. WALKER, Nevada Department of Transportation ALAN WILLIS, Los Angeles Department of Transportation DALE THOMPSON, Federal Highway Administration (Liaison) KIMBERLY C. VASCONEZ, Federal Highway Administration (Liaison) WILLIAM J. FAGAN, Federal Railroad Administration (Liaison) DAVID SCHNEIDER, Federal Transit Administration (Liaison) VINCENT P. PEARCE, U.S. Department of Transportation (Liaison) MARK S. SYNDER, Federal Emergency Management Agency (Liaison) SCOTT WINDLEY, U.S. Access Board (Liaison)

Highway administrators, engineers, and researchers often face problems for which information already exists, either in documented form or as undocumented experience and practice. This information may be fragmented, scattered, and unevaluated. As a consequence, full knowledge of what has been learned about a problem may not be brought to bear on its solution. Costly research findings may go unused, valuable experience may be overlooked, and due consider- ation may not be given to recommended practices for solving or alleviating the problem. There is information on nearly every subject of concern to highway administrators and engineers. Much of it derives from research or from the work of practitioners faced with problems in their day-to-day work. To provide a systematic means for assembling and evaluating such useful information and to make it available to the entire highway commu- nity, the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials—through the mechanism of the National Cooperative Highway Research Program—authorized the Transportation Research Board to undertake a continuing study. This study, NCHRP Project 20-5, “Synthesis of Information Related to Highway Problems,” searches out and synthesizes useful knowledge from all available sources and prepares concise, documented reports on specific topics. Reports from this endeavor constitute an NCHRP report series, Synthesis of Highway Practice. This synthesis series reports on current knowledge and practice, in a compact format, without the detailed directions usually found in handbooks or design manuals. Each report in the series provides a compendium of the best knowledge available on those measures found to be the most successful in resolving specific problems. The goal of this study was to collect and document information on transportation’s role in emergency evacuation and reentry by summarizing aspects of its planning, control, and research, as well as highlighting effective and innovative practices. The review of practice showed that transportation plays an active role in supporting and assisting in evacuations. Transportation personnel are involved before, during, and after evacuations by managing and maintaining transportation systems, including traffic control, moni- toring, planning, and management. After an event they are involved in managing debris removal and signal restoration for reentry and the monitoring and inspection of critical infrastructure. Transportation professionals also bring expert knowledge and a situational awareness of transportation systems into an emergency response. In states with large rural areas and populations, departments of transportation are often one of the few agencies with manpower, equipment, and communication assets in remote areas that can be used to evacuate people to safety. Among the best defined and well developed roles of transporta- tion in evacuations are in the areas of direction and control of highway networks. One high profile and effective recent innovation has been the development of contraflow for “all lanes out” mass evacuations. In areas with the need to evacuate more dispersed popula- tions, the role played by transportation is to keep evacuees and decision makers informed about which routes are open and which routes should be used as alternates. Contrary to commonly held views, transportation agencies responding to the practice survey did not convey an overwhelming feeling that their resources were overcommitted or inadequate to carry out a large-scale evacuation. The majority of transportation agencies also indi- cated they had adequate communication capabilities to carry out their role. The survey did, however, suggest that the greatest needs were for more financial and manpower resources dedicated to plan for and manage evacuations. FF FOREWORD preFace By Gail Staba Senior Program Officer Transportation Research Board

vi A survey of evacuation policies and practices was conducted by means of a literature review and a survey of transportation and emergency management agencies. Brian Wolshon, Louisiana State University, collected and synthesized the information and wrote the report. The members of the topic panel overseeing this project are acknowledged on the preceding page. This synthesis is an immediately useful document that records the practices that were acceptable within the limitations of the knowledge available at the time of its prepara- tion. As progress in research and practice continues, new knowledge will be added to that now at hand.

conTenTs 1 SUMMARY 3 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION Motivation and Objectives, 3 Study Scope, 4 Methodology, 5 Report Organization, 5 6 CHAPTER TWO BACKGROUND 11 CHAPTER THREE EVACUATION PLANNING AND PHASING Evacuation Planning Processes, 11 Phased Evacuations, 12 15 CHAPTER FOUR DIRECTION AND CONTROL ON HIGHWAYS Traffic Control Devices, 15 Contraflow, 19 Work Zones on Evacuation Routes, 28 30 CHAPTER FIVE EVACUEE TRAVEL CHARACTERISTICS AND ASSISTED EVACUATION Evacuee Characterization, 31 Carless Evacuation Study Findings, 35 38 CHAPTER SIx COMMUNICATION, DATA ExCHANGE, AND PUBLIC INFORMATION En-Route Data Acquisition and Exchange, 38 Evacuee Guidance, 39 Internal Information Exchange, 40 41 CHAPTER SEVEN REENTRY Reentry Issues, 41 Entry Management Restrictions, 42 47 CHAPTER EIGHT CURRENT STATE OF PRACTICE Survey of Practice, 47 Case Illustrations, 54 64 CHAPTER NINE CONCLUSIONS AND FUTURE NEEDS 67 REFERENCES 72 BIBLIOGRAPHY 74 APPENDIx A EMERGING KNOWLEDGE AND TECHNOLOGIES 85 APPENDIx B EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT ROLES AND PROCESSES IN EVACUATION 97 APPENDIx C SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE 109 APPENDIx D SURVEY RESULTS