A Bi-Objective Optimization Approach for Emergency Evacuation Planning under Pandemic Setting

Different types of hazards occur quite often in different parts of the globe. These hazards may cause significant property damages, monetary losses, and human fatalities. For certain types of disasters, populations are expected to evacuate from locations that anticipate the greatest impact. Emergency evacuation is generally challenging, since many people have to evacuate a given area in a short span of time. Lack of proper planning may result in negative externalities (e.g., congestion on evacuation routes, anxiety of evacuees). Emergency evacuation can be extremely challenging in rural areas that may not have emergency shelters with adequate capacity in their vicinity, and transportation infrastructure may not be able to handle a large number of evacuees. Furthermore, a frequent occurrence of pandemics makes emergency evacuation planning even more challenging. Rushing to the closest emergency shelter may not be the best choice, because the closest shelters may operate at the capacity level. Overcrowded emergency shelters are expected to have a high risk of virus transmission under pandemic settings. Therefore, this project proposes a new bi-objective optimization model for emergency evacuation planning, aiming not only to minimize the total travel time of evacuees to the assigned emergency shelters but also to minimize the risk of virus transmission in the assigned emergency shelters as well. A custom multi-objective optimization algorithm is developed to solve the proposed bi-objective optimization model. Various case studies are conducted to demonstrate applicability of the proposed methodology for real-life emergency evacuation scenarios. Evacuation of populations residing in rural counties is directly considered during the numerical experiments. The findings from this research can be used to better prepare rural populations for approaching natural hazards and ensure their safety throughout the evacuation process. Moreover, this project will assist with minimizing virus transmission rates in emergency shelters and alleviating the negative impacts of pandemics.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $73,866.00
• Contract Numbers:

  69A3552348321

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Florida A&M University, Tallahassee

  404 Foote/Hilyer
  Tallahassee, FL  United States  32307
• Project Managers:

  Moses, Ren

• Performing Organizations:

  Florida A&M University, Tallahassee

  404 Foote/Hilyer
  Tallahassee, FL  United States  32307

  Disaster Technologies Incorporated

  201 N. Union St., Suite 110
  Alexandria, Virginia  United States 

  Manatee County Government

  1112 Manatee Avenue West
  Bradenton, Florida  United States 
• Principal Investigators:

  Dulebenets, Maxim

  Ozguven, Eren

• Start Date: 20240601
• Expected Completion Date: 20250531
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Communicable diseases; Disasters and emergency operations; Evacuation; Optimization; Rural areas
• Subject Areas: Security and Emergencies; Society; Transportation (General);

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01945634
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Rural Equitable and Accessible Transportation Center
• Contract Numbers: 69A3552348321
• Files: UTC, RIP
• Created Date: Feb 12 2025 5:29PM