DyDAn Homeland Security Seminar Series

Title: Jersey City/Newark UASI Region Evacuation Planning Study

Speaker: Jon Carnegie, Alan M. Voorhees Transportation Center, Rutgers University

Date: Monday, April 28, 2008 12:00 - 1:30 pm

Location: DyDan Center, CoRE Bldg, Room 431, Rutgers University, Busch Campus, Piscataway, NJ

Abstract:

In September 2007, the Voorhees Transportation Center at Rutgers University was hired by the NJ Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness to conduct a multi-year evacuation planning study for the seven county northern New Jersey UASI region. The purpose of the study is to develop a collaborative, cross-jurisdictional and multi-agency all hazards regional evacuation plan for the northern New Jersey UASI region. Toward that end, the study team will develop a capability-based plan built upon a foundational understanding of the true capacity of the region's transportation infrastructure to support mass evacuations under a variety of operational conditions and various planning scenarios.

The study will employ a variety of evacuation, transportation and traffic modeling tools to inform the plan development process. Once a base-line understanding of transportation system capacity is in hand, the research team will work with the NJOHSP, the UASI Working Group Executive Board and evacuation subcommittee, other state agencies and representatives from the private sector as needed to prepare a comprehensive evacuation plan that utilizes all modes of transportation.

At a minimum, the plan will address the following:

• command, control and management issues;
• evacuation routing, including: mode-specific sub-plans, staging areas for load-and-go bus operations, reception centers, contra-flow operations in appropriate locations, staging of support equipment for incident management, refueling, canteen and comfort station operations along evacuation routes; emergency vehicle ingress/egress;
• evacuation of special needs populations;
• evacuation time estimates;
• ingress/re-entry plans for the safe return of displaced populations;
• coordination with mass care/sheltering and animal evacuation/sheltering plans; and
• cooperative and mutual-aid arrangements;