Hurricane evacuation traffic model

In response to severe natural disasters, cities and regions may need to evacuate people from potentially dangerous or flooded regions. This paper gives an overview of a model for traffic during regional evacuations due to hurricanes, using queueing theory to describe traffic congestion. Other methods of modeling traffic are also evaluated. A simulation of a hurricane evacuation in Massachusetts was created, and the simulation was used to identify congested and potentially vulnerable regions. The model was validated against navigation predictions from other software. The results of the model indicate that Boston and the bridges to Cape Cod are particularly vulnerable to congestion, and that some people remain on the road many hours after the beginning of the evacuation. A visualization for the model was also designed to present the simulation in a visually accessible way to both experts and the general public.