During Hurricane Katrina, the Coast Transit Authority (CTA), along with local school districts in Mississippi, played a vital role in evacuating those persons who did not have their own transportation. Mississippi Emergency Management Agency (MEMA) transferred evacuees from centralized staging areas to MEMA safe shelters while CTA provided door-to-door service to transport evacuees who were unable to go to the staging center. It is anticipated in the future, in the event of any evacuation, the CTA and MEMA are going to transfer the evacuees to the designated shelters. How to efficiently operate the transit is a key question for the emergency management and transit management agencies. This research seeks to identify the optimum staging areas and operation routes to provide an answer to this question. The results from this research will not only provide efficient operation in the planned evacuation, but also may save lives if the time to evacuate becomes critical or evacuation resources are limited.

Final Report