Florida has ‘most limited’ disaster evacuation routes: study

Florida has 20 of the top 100 communities in the US that offer limited evacuation routes for natural disasters, says StreetLight Data. The company analysed 30,000 towns with populations under 40,000 with the aim of better preparing communities for floods, hurricanes and tornadoes. The top 100 communities was ranked by ‘evacuation risk’, which was determined by how many of the location’s daily trips enter and exit the town and via what route(s), adjusted for the number of available exits and overall populat
August 29, 2019 Read time: 2 mins

Florida has 20 of the top 100 communities in the US that offer limited evacuation routes for natural disasters, says StreetLight Data.

The company analysed 30,000 towns with populations under 40,000 with the aim of better preparing communities for floods, hurricanes and tornadoes. The top 100 communities was ranked by ‘evacuation risk’, which was determined by how many of the location’s daily trips enter and exit the town and via what route(s), adjusted for the number of available exits and overall population.

Paul Friedman, StreetLight’s chief technical officer, says: “Transportation infrastructure, and sharing information about transportation options, is one part of the complex requirements of disaster and evacuation preparation. We hope this data can be a useful support to those working in this challenging field.”

Other states that have the most evacuation-challenged towns include California (14 communities), Arizona (8), Texas (6) and Washington (also 6).

Additionally, findings revealed the most constrained evacuation routes are Camano (Washington), Hilton Head Island (South Carolina), Mercer Island (Washington), Hutchinson Island South (Florida) and Sanibel (Florida).

Urban Traffic Control

Related Content

  • Tech advances create MaaS without compromise
    August 29, 2019
    Advances in technology make it possible for authorities to compile and maintain MaaS platforms cheaply - and without relinquishing control to third parties. Colin Sowman finds out more… It is increasingly clear that local authorities’ reluctance to implement Mobility as a Service (MaaS) is based on politics and finance. However, the technology underpinning MaaS is evolving rapidly and is presenting new solutions. At its heart, the political resistance comes down to the divide between the ethos of public
    Read More
  • Helsinki’s residents trial MaaS as alternative to private cars
    August 21, 2018
    Would you give up your own car? Helsinki implemented MaaS late last year and Colin Sowman discovers that the initial reaction has been positive What would it take for you to give up your own car? That is the question posed by Sampo Hietanen, the so-called ‘father’ of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) and CEO of MaaS Global. And he is about to discover if MaaS really will convince the people of Helsinki to do the unthinkable. MaaS Global introduced a fledgling version of its Whim app in the city in late 2016
    Read More
  • Road user charging comes a step closer in Oregon
    December 19, 2017
    Having been the first US state to introduce the gas tax a century ago, Oregon is now blazing the road user charging trail. Colin Sowman looks at progress to date. For more than a decade, authorities in Oregon have known of the impending decline in fuels tax income and while revenue increased by more than 5% in 2016, that growth will slow considerably this year and income is projected to start declining in 2020.
    Read More
  • LA can learn from Oakland UBM
    July 15, 2022
    Los Angeles is just embarking on its universal basic mobility journey – but fortunately the city can draw on the findings of a similar programme in Oakland…
    Read More

Highlighted Content