A network flow model for lane-based evacuation routing

• Published in: Transportation research. Part A, Policy and practice Vol. 37; no. 7; pp. 579 - 604
• Main Authors: Cova, Thomas J., Johnson, Justin P.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Kidlington Elsevier Ltd 01-08-2003; Elsevier
• Series: Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice
• Subjects: Applied sciences; Emergency management; Evacuation routing; Exact sciences and technology; Ground, air and sea transportation, marine construction; Network flow modeling; Optimization modeling; Road transportation and traffic; Transportation planning, management and economics; United States; North America; Utah; America; Evacuation routing; Emergency management; Optimization modeling; Network flow modeling; Intersection; Road network; Mixed integer programming; Modeling; Optimization; Traffic flow; Evacuation; Formulation; Cross roads; Example; Experimentation; Emergency; Route
• ISSN: 0965-8564; 1879-2375
• DOI: 10.1016/S0965-8564(03)00007-7

Most traffic delays in regional evacuations occur at intersections. Lane-based routing is one strategy for reducing these delays. This paper presents a network flow model for identifying optimal lane-based evacuation routing plans in a complex road network. The model is an integer extension of the minimum-cost flow problem. It can be used to generate routing plans that trade total vehicle travel-distance against merging, while preventing traffic crossing-conflicts at intersections. A mixed-integer programming solver is used to derive optimal routing plans for a sample network. Manual capacity analysis and microscopic traffic simulation are used to compare the relative efficiency of the plans. An application is presented for Salt Lake City, Utah.