Impact of providing real-time traffic information on no-notice or short-notice evacuations.

摘要

No-notice or short-notice evacuations caused by incidents such as nuclear power plant accidents can produce unpredictable consequences. With the aging nuclear power plants and the fast-growing population surrounding them, it is critical to update the evacuation plans. However, most relevant studies were conducted over twenty years ago based on static traffic assignment or macroscopic traffic simulations.;Traffic assignment and traffic simulation models have undergone substantial improvements over the past twenty years. Also, today's travelers are able to access real-time traffic information through many options. It is necessary and important to incorporate these methodological and technological improvements in emergency evacuations. In this research, no-notice and short-notice emergency evacuations caused by nuclear power plant accidents are investigated. Different from previous studies, the effects of en-route drivers' re-routing behavior and providing real-time traffic information are considered. Various scenarios are simulated by using a real-world road. The result shows that providing real-time traffic information plays a significant role in improving evacuation effectiveness, which should be considered in developing future emergency evacuation plans.