35: Emerging Issues in Emergency Event Transport

Natural or man-made disasters generate travel demands and travel conditions that influence the safety of people affected by the disaster. Recent world events have brought into focus the need to develop and test options and alternative plans and policies for transport in such events. Present models used to manage evacuations and emergency services in disaster situations are not adequate for planning or testing transportation options because they are not based on an understanding of people’s behaviour, but are simply operational from the perspective of police, fire, and sometimes, military officials. Such models are also static and do not respond to changes in environmental conditions. In many cases, the models are simply judgment calls of people familiar with the area.