PI: Konstantinos Triantis – VT; Co-PIs: Pamela Murray-Tuite – Clemson; Joseph Trainor – UDel; Praveen Edara – Univ. of Missouri

Abstract: If successful, the research will provide a point of departure from current viewpoints on evacuation planning by representing an evacuation as a network composed of transportation and household perspectives by considering systems, and systems containing processes linked through performance metrics. Given that the information and data of this research will be grounded in household responses and transportation occurrences calibrated in realistic scenarios suggests that the derived performance targets could be more readily incorporated by both transportation agencies and households. Project funding will support a minimum of one University of Delaware School of Public Policy and Administration Summer Scholar. The PIs will develop age appropriate activities for middle to high school students to participate in camps at Virginia Tech sponsored through the Center for Enhancement of Engineering Diversity. In terms of under-represented groups, a PI will seek to fund and recruit a student through the William A. Anderson Fund, a 501c.

The research approach begins with the assertion that “performance” is a socio-technical process that requires both scientific measurement and an understanding of social systems that empower, inform, and constrain views on what makes a good or bad evacuation. The research approach requires unpacking the basic phenomena of evacuation and rethinking how good or bad outcomes of that phenomenon are evaluated and measured. This suggests that it is neither appropriate to use a single performance measure nor to consider only a single point of view. This research adapts and augments dynamic network performance measurement approaches to conceptualize and model the relationships between transportation agencies and households and the performance of these groups as a “system” that co-produces the outcomes of an evacuation. The team defines and computes multiple measures of performance at different points in time. Analytical approaches are used to evaluate transportation strategies.