Use of Shared-Mobility Services to Accomplish Emergency Evacuation in Urban Areas via Reduction in Intermediate Trips—Case Study in Xi’an, China

Menghui Li, Jinliang Xu, Xingliang Liu, Chao Sun and Zhihao Duan
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Menghui Li: College of Highway Engineering, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China
Jinliang Xu: College of Highway Engineering, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China
Xingliang Liu: College of Highway Engineering, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China
Chao Sun: School of Automotive and Traffic Engineering, Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212013, China
Zhihao Duan: College of Highway Engineering, Chang’an University, Xi’an 710064, China

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 12, 1-27

Abstract: Under no-notice evacuation scenarios with limited time horizons, the effectiveness of evacuation can be negatively impacted by intermediate trips that are made by family members and the identification of vulnerable populations. The emergence of shared-mobility companies, such as Uber and DiDi, can be considered as a potential means to address above-mentioned concerns. The proposed study explores the utility of shared-mobility services under emergency-evacuation scenarios and makes recommendations to relevant bodies that are based on the obtained and they are discussed herein. The study investigates attitudes of the public, experts, and drivers towards the use of shared-mobility resources during emergency evacuations based on a stated preference survey. Results of questionnaires, driver interviews, and face-to-face expert interviews have been analyzed to validate the feasibility and identify potential problems of leveraging shared-mobility services during evacuation response, especially in metropolitan areas wherein such services are already ubiquitous. Numerical simulations have been performed to quantify potential improvements in the total trip distance and number of evacuees after incorporating the use of shared mobility into emergency-response operations. However, despite the observed improvement in emergency efficiency, certain realistic roadblocks must be overcome. Realization of the proposed objective heavily depends on actionable policy recommendations, provided herein as a reference for the government, emergency management agencies, and shared-mobility companies.

Keywords: shared mobility; emergency evacuation; intermediate trips; vulnerable population (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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