Report: Emergency plans should include more transit
A new report from the National Research Council's Transportation
Research Board says that while millions of people each day rely on
transit, few urban area emergency plans have focused on its role in an
emergency evacuation.

After reviewing 38 urban areas' emergency response and evacuation
plans, the committee found that transit has a role to play in each of
the four major elements that make up an emergency response plan --
mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery. The committee then
conducted in-depth case studies of Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New
York City/North New Jersey and Tampa, Fla.

The five case studies illustrate the role transit could play in an
evacuation, including transporting those without a car to area
shelters or outside the affected area, bringing emergency responders
and equipment to emergency incident sites, returning evacuees to their
original destinations and restoring service as expeditiously as
possible.

Local governments are required by law to develop emergency plans for
evacuations and mass departure routes, and, since 2006, for
populations with special needs, such as people with disabilities.
Local governments also have the primary responsibility of responding
to emergency incidents and ordering an evacuation, if necessary, and
transportation and transit agencies play a supporting role. If an
incident overwhelms local capability, state and federal assistance may
be requested, which happens with some frequency.

To help fill the planning gap, the committee recommends that the U.S.
Department of Homeland Security provide guidance and funds to state
and local governments on regional evacuation planning that includes
transit and other public transportation providers.

States should take the lead to see that plans are implemented,
coordinating with appropriate regional entities.

Federal transportation funds also should be directed to evacuation-
related, capacity-enhancement projects to add redundancy to critical
transit and highway infrastructure and to Intelligent Transportation
Systems projects, to further network resilience in an emergency.

To read the report, go to http://national-academies.org.

http://www.metro-magazine.com/News/Story/2008/07/Report-Emergency-pla...

***********************************************************
Stans Railpix railphotoexpress.com Store !!
          http://www.cafepress.com/stans_railpix
               www.zazzle.com/stanrail

Stan'S Railpix;-A-Rail-Photo-Gallery !!
         http://www.trainweb.org/railpix
Will remain a FREE site with 2426+1/2 images posted.