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Modern subway transportation systems need to satisfy increasing safety demands to rapidly evacuate passengers under hazardous emergency circumstances, such as fires, accidents or terrorist attacks, to reduce passenger injuries or life losses. The emergency evacuation capacity (EEC) of a subway station needs to be revised timely, in case passenger demand increases or the evacuation route changes in the future. However, traditional ways of estimating EEC, e.g. fire drills are time- and resource-consuming and are difficult to revise from time to time. The purpose of this study is to establish an intuitive modelling approach to increase the EEC of subway stations in a stepwised manner.

This study develops an approach to combine agent-based evacuation modelling and building information modelling (BIM) technology to estimate the total evacuation time of a subway station.

Evacuation time can be saved (33% in the studied case) from iterative improvements including stopping escalators running against the evacuation flow and modifying the geometry around escalator exits. Such iterative improvements rely on integrating agent-based modelling and BIM.

The agent-based model can provide a more realistic simulation of intelligent individual movements under emergency circumstances and provides precise feedback on locations of evacuation bottlenecks. This study also examined the effectiveness of two rounds of stepwise improvements in terms of operation or design to increase the EEC of the station.

Surveys of the public have been conducted to document and explain evacuation behaviour in a wide range of threatening events during the past half-century. Many of the behaviours are directly applicable to transportation modelling and management: whether people evacuate, when they depart, where they go, the routes they employ and the number of vehicles they use. Data have usually been collected by telephone interview or mailed questionnaires. Traditional survey methods should be supplemented by Internet surveys, traffic counts and GPS tracking. More real-time data collection should be employed to document a wider range of behaviours during a threat more accurately and to better understand the dynamics of evacuation decisions.

The purpose of this paper is to conduct a comprehensive study on building, fire and evacuation, so as to effectively improve the efficiency of building fire evacuation and the management level of fire evacuation site. Make up for the difficulties of BIM technology in effectively connecting building information and fire data.

First, this paper establishes a fire model and an evacuation model based on BIM information. Then, the safety index (SI) is introduced as a comprehensive index, and the IRI is established by integrating the SI function to evaluate the safety of evacuation routes. Based on these two indices, the IRI-based fire evacuation model is established.

This study offers an Improved Risk Index (IRI)-based fire evacuation model, which may achieve effective evacuation in fire scenes. And the model is verified by taking the fire evacuation of a shopping center building as an example.

This paper proposes a fire evacuation principle based on IRI, so that the relevant personnel can comprehensively consider the fire factors and evacuation factors to achieve the optimization of building design, thereby improving the fire safety of buildings.

Natural hazards cause enormous damage to human beings including loss of life and property. Although Malaysia is fortunate as it does not experience disasters such as volcanic eruptions and typhoons, the country is prone to flood and landslides. In December 2014, Malaysia was hit by the worst flood in Kelantan called Bah Kuning meaning yellow flood. The flood has caused thousands homeless. During the flood, the victims were evacuated to the nearest evacuation centres for shelter. However, the victims received little support due to agencies involved were unable to gain access. Lack of supporting transportation and infrastructure for disaster relief has caused deficiency in coordination. The evacuation preparedness for disaster management may be improved by integrating information through geographical information system (GIS). This research aims to assess and identify suitable locations for shelters and routes for disaster reliefs. The December 2014 flood was simulated using HEC-RAS and ArcGIS. Suitability analysis was used to determine best locations for helipads and routes based on the simulated inundated areas, roads, rivers and evacuations centres. The study also maps the best possible locations for evacuation centres and transportation modes for disaster reliefs.

Purpose — A new method of collecting hurricane evacuation data using time-dependent stated choice is developed and evaluated in this study.

Methodology/approach — Hypothetical storms are presented in a video in a sequence of scenarios showing prevailing conditions at discrete points in time as each storm approaches land. Respondents are exposed to nine hypothetical storms representing a range of hurricane characteristics. One of the hypothetical storms is secretly the same as an actual storm the respondents experienced in the past and for which they are required to report their behaviour in a revealed preference survey.

Findings — Stated and actual behaviour was compared and general agreement was found between what people say they would do and what they did. The revealed preference (RP) data was supplemented with time-dependent data from official sources and hurricane evacuation demand models estimated on this enhanced RP data, as well as on a combination of the enhanced RP and time-dependent stated choice (SC) data. When the models were applied to a different data set than the ones on which the models were calibrated, the combined time-dependent RP/SC model performed slightly better than the enhanced RP model. Detailed accounting revealed that time-dependent SC data is 25 percent more expensive to collect than enhanced RP data, although some of this cost may be due to the first-time collection of this type of data.

Purpose – This study explores the relationship between federal, state, and local governments in regard to evacuation policies. The issue of evacuation enforcement by force is explored from a practical as well as moral perspective, and the overarching question of whether mandatory evacuation policy is merely symbolic is examined. Last, implications of policy making for vulnerable and marginalized populations is explored, and the question of whether criminalization of failure to comply with evacuation orders carries ill effects for certain segments of the population is examined.

Design/methodology/approach – This chapter first evaluates the legal logistics and policy foundation of evacuation orders at the national and state level. The chapter then explores the implications for local governments, notably first responders in implementing evacuation policy. Finally, policy recommendations related to improvements to existing evacuation policy for all levels of government are offered.

Findings – There is a gap in public policy between the expectations of the federal government and the implementation of evacuation policy at the local and state level. Policy and law changes that improve the ability of local governments to more effectively warn communities about the risks of noncompliance should occur in a way that minimizes the social disparities inherent in existing policy schemes.

Originality/value of paper – Evacuation policy is often considered as an afterthought to disaster planning and does not rise to the top of any government agenda until after a catastrophic event. This chapter encourages policy makers to be more proactive in developing evacuation policy that capitalizes on the effects of federalism to minimize the risks associated with natural and human-caused hazards.

This paper aims to present a systematic review of the published literature on building information model (BIM)-based simulation tools used for occupant evacuation over the past 23 years.

A literature review was conducted on BIM-based simulation tools used for occupant evacuation over the past 23 years. The search identified a total of 37 relevant papers, which were reviewed. The paper describes the use of BIM-based simulation tools over the years and identifies the research gaps.

BIM-based simulation tools have undergone progressive development, with constant improvements through the integration of advanced tools and collection of more data. These tools can assist in identifying faults in the building design. The outcomes of the simulation were not entirely accurate, as real-life scenarios vary depending on the various building types and the behavior of their occupants.

This study contributes to the literature through reviewing the capabilities of BIM-based simulation tools and the different simulation methods along with their limitations.

Fire safety engineers and architects can comprehend the utilization of BIM-based simulation tools to enhance the fire evacuation in light of their shortcomings and flaws.

BIM-based simulation tools are becoming more advanced and widely used. There has not been a comprehensive evaluation of the capabilities of the integration of BIM tools and simulation modeling for occupant evacuation. This study guides researchers on the capabilities and efficiencies of integrated solutions for occupant evacuations and their inherent shortcomings. The study identifies future research areas in BIM-based tools for occupant evacuation.

This project aims to improve understanding of disaster preparedness and resilience, as well as animal recovery during a disaster event. The purpose of this study is to determine the type and extent of repair/renovation work required to bring proposed animal safe places and their different components up to the minimum standard for an operational animal evacuation site.

On-site survey using a five-point Likert scale questionnaire was used to collect data through a five stage processes beginning with the creation of a facility register and continuing with the development of assessment guidelines, assessment planning, actual assessment and reporting. In the Hunter Region of New South Wales, Australia, 25 potential animal evacuation sites, including saleyards, showgrounds, animal shelters and racecourses, were identified and accessed.

The findings of the study reveals that none of the facilities are of high standard. However, 16% would require cosmetic work, 76% would require minor work and the remaining facilities would require significant work. According to the characteristics of the facilities assessed, saleyards have a greater capacity to accommodate animals ranging in size from large to small. More than half of the facilities have average to excellent hay sheds and wash bays, whereas less than half have dedicated animal quarantine space.

The findings of this study should assist government agencies, local councils, emergency management teams and other stakeholders in planning for and considering renovation/upgrade of potential animal safe places.

The assessment guideline developed as part of this research can be included in the local council’s emergency management plan to improve adequate planning for safe animal evacuation.