Citation

Zhang Z, Wolshon B, Murray-Tuite P. Transp. Res. D Trans. Environ. 2019; 77: 525-534.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, Elsevier Publishing)

DOI

10.1016/j.trd.2019.08.016

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Evacuations, a critical and widely used emergency response action, vary widely in terms of their scale, scope, urgency and level of organization. While they differ from event to event, history shows that there are a small set of variables, inherent to all evacuations, that largely govern their effectiveness. In this paper, these fundamental variables are described from a theoretical perspective to illustrate how factors of evacuation demand and supply affect clearance time and how they can also be used to relate evacuation planning to concepts of risk, resiliency, and resource allocation. This work provides a basis for a general theory of evacuation processes that can be used it to conceptualize relationships like cost-benefit tradeoffs in evacuation management to improve long-range evacuation planning through a better understanding of the investment and allocation of resources.

Language: en

Keywords

Clearance time; Evacuation; Investment curve; Resilience