Development of a traffic incident model involving multiple municipalities for inclusion in large microscopic evacuation simulations

Evacuating citizens might have to cross multiple regions to reach safety and, as such, evacuation models may need to include geographical areas that cross municipal boundaries. If the modeler is fortunate, the data required for the model can be obtained from a single source (i.e., a government agency). However, it is likely that several sources will be required to meet the fidelity required. This can lead to interoperability and integrity issues for the modeler due to the different format and content of the data. This paper presents a case study of determining the traffic incident features (type, duration, location, and effect), for a large-scale microscopic regional evacuation simulation, which required data from three different operating authorities (two cities in the United States and one state department of transportation). Through this case study example, many issues relating to data integration are discussed. This study contributes by extending our knowledge of traffic incidents that occur across municipal boundaries and how to represent them in simulations of evacuations. Though existing sources (e.g., Highway Capacity Manual or simulation software) provide guidelines for macroscopic incident modeling, they do not provide guidelines for large-scale microscopic incident modeling. The authors hope that this case study provides an example that will help other evacuation modelers faced with similar challenges and suggest that the modelers consider the use of estimates instead, e.g., traffic incidents increase the evacuation time by five to ten percent.