Application of GIS and Operations Research Logistics Planning Methods for Arkansas Rural Transportation Emergency Planning

With the advent of natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and the possibility of future events such as massive earthquakes in the New Madrid zone, terrorist attacks, avian influenza and others emergency planning in the area of transportation is a critical necessity. The development and testing of plans is difficult and labor intensive due to data requirements. In addition, the optimization of the plans and their simulation on computers is difficult without having the data in useful form and the domain knowledge necessary to formulate the optimization and simulation solutions. Governmental planners should have access to decision support tools that allow them to understand the feasibility of their plans and to assess the impact of “real” time changes on their plans. Such questions as where to locate emergency shelters and how to efficiently transport and arrange services need to be considered. In addition, the plans must be dynamic while assuring a certain level of humanitarian coverage. This research will examine the feasibility of integrating disparate information when planning emergency operations as related to transportation for Arkansas and other states with large portions of rural areas. The expected output is a research report detailing what information is available, what information is missing, the specific formatting requirements for the data in order to integrate it into an emergency response logistics planning tool. A preliminary examination of the detailed requirements for the design of a decision support system based on GIS technology will be developed. The research can be used by emergency planners to better understand how to utilize advanced technology in the planning process. In addition, the research will serve as a basis for future research in the area of decision support systems for rural transportation planning in emergency response situations.

• Record URL:
  • http://www.uark.edu/rd_engr/MBTC/FinalReport-MBTC2088-PDF(1).pdf
• 
• Supplemental Notes:
  • This document is disseminated under the sponsorship of the Department of Transportation, University Transportation Centers Program.
• Corporate Authors:

  Mack-Blackwell Transportation Center

  University of Arkansas, 4190 Bell Engineering Center
  Fayetteville, AR  United States  72701

  Research and Special Programs Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Authors:
  • Rossetti, Manuel D
  • Pohl, Edward
  • Limp, Fred
  • Stout, Jason
  • Marek, Douglas
• Publication Date: 2008-8

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Edition: Final Report
• Features: Appendices; Bibliography; Figures; Tables;
• Pagination: 134p

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Decision support systems; Disaster preparedness; Emergency management; Geographic information systems; Rural areas; Rural transportation; Technological innovations; Transportation planning
• Geographic Terms: Arkansas
• Subject Areas: Highways; Planning and Forecasting; Safety and Human Factors; I72: Traffic and Transport Planning;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01111502
• Record Type: Publication
• Report/Paper Numbers: MBTC 2088
• Files: UTC, TRIS, USDOT
• Created Date: Sep 29 2008 11:47AM