[Carfreeliving] Fwd: "Lessons From Katrina" - New VTPI Paper

[Dave Snyder]

>Date: Tue, 20 Sep 2005 07:09:54 -0700
>From: Todd Alexander Litman <litman at vtpi.org>
>Subject: "Lessons From Katrina" - New VTPI Paper
>
>For Immediate Release: 20 September 2005
>
>ìLessons From Katrina: What A Major Disaster Can 
>Teach Transportation Plannersî 
>(<http://www.vtpi.org/katrina.pdf> 
>http://www.vtpi.org/katrina.pdf )
>By Todd Litman
>
>
>Summary
>This paper examines failures in Hurricane 
>Katrina disaster response and their lessons for 
>transportation policy and planning in other 
>communities. It identifies various policy and 
>planning strategies that can help create a more 
>efficient, equitable and resilient transport 
>system.
>
>The evacuation plan functioned relatively well 
>for motorists, but failed to serve people who 
>depend on public transit. Transport planners can 
>help prevent future disasters by demanding that 
>emergency response plans devote at least as much 
>attention to the evacuation and care of 
>non-drivers as they do to motorists.
>
>Non-drivers include many people with various 
>physical, economic and social problems. Planners 
>need to anticipate these peopleís needs. This 
>may require special community outreach and 
>communications activities to build understanding 
>and trust among planners and the people they 
>serve.
>
>From a transport planning perspective, the 
>greatest mistake in New Orleans was the lack of 
>a detailed action plan to dispatch buses for 
>evacuating transit-dependent residents. Such a 
>plan would include an inventory of all available 
>buses and essential staff, and pre-established 
>procedures to deploy buses when an evacuation 
>order is announced.
>
>It is important to understand why many people 
>ignored evacuation orders. Many faced logistical 
>or financial barriers obtaining transport out of 
>the city. Many had nowhere to go and were 
>fearful of emergency shelter conditions. Some 
>stayed to protect their property or pets, or out 
>of bravado. Addressing these objections would 
>increase evacuation order response.
>
>A variety of planning policies and programs can 
>help create a more resilient transport system. 
>These increase system diversity and integration, 
>improve user information, prioritize use of 
>infrastructure, and provide special services 
>during emergencies. These can benefit everybody 
>in a community, even people who currently rely 
>on automobile transportation.
>
>
>Sincerely,
>
>Todd Alexander Litman
>Victoria Transport Policy Institute (www.vtpi.org)
>litman at vtpi.org
>Phone & Fax 250-360-1560
>1250 Rudlin Street, Victoria, BC, V8V 3R7, CANADA
>ìEfficiency - Equity - Clarityî
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://livablecity.org/pipermail/carfreeliving_livablecity.org/attachments/20050921/c80886b8/attachment.htm