Title: Contraflow evacuation e-planning system for I-65 in Alabama

Authors: Gary P. Moynihan; Daniel Fonseca

Addresses: Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, The University of Alabama, Box 870205, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0205, USA ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Alabama, Box 870276, Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0276, USA

Abstract: Contraflow on major evacuation routes is one approach that has been adopted in many Gulf Coast states for hurricane evacuation. The idea is to reverse one direction of the roadway to accommodate the often substantially increased travel demand moving away from the impact area. Efficient planning and operation is critical to a successful contraflow implementation. The purpose of this paper was to develop a decision support system for contraflow evacuation planning for use by the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT). User requirements were identified, and a literature review was conducted to determine applicable existing algorithms. A working prototype system was then constructed. The practical value of this paper is to provide state transportation officials with an effective computer-based tool for pre-planning and evaluating possible responses to such an event.

Keywords: evacuation planning; contraflow; hurricane evacuation; traffic analysis; traffic re-routing; decision support systems; DSS; e-government; electronic government; hurricanes; emergency management; emergency planning; USA; United States; travel demand; reverse direction of travel.

DOI: 10.1504/EG.2016.074243

Electronic Government, an International Journal, 2016 Vol.12 No.1, pp.47 - 65

Received: 10 Jul 2014
Accepted: 06 Jul 2015
Published online: 19 Jan 2016 *

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