Strategies to Improve the Efficiency of a Multimodal Interdependent Transportation System in Disasters

A multimodal transportation system is the prevalent commuting mode in urban areas and may be comprised of various transportation modes with flexible transfer options, such as automobiles, buses, subway, and other types of rail transit. Examining the efficiency and reliability of such an interdependent system in disasters is quite challenging due to the complexities associated with the dynamic nature of the commuting pattern, formation of choke points, and chaos resulted from the disaster that may affect people's route choice behavior in the face of urgent evacuation. For road traffic many transportation engineers utilize route guidance system as a tool for managing traffic away from the disaster area. With uncertainty in the highway network during a disaster, system efficiency is crucial in disaster management planning. Within a multimodal framework, this paper offers different strategies to improve the transportation system efficiency in various disaster situations when choke points are formed. An illustrative example is presented to demonstrate the applicability of the strategies.