How contraflow enhances clearance time during assisted mass evacuation – A case study exploring the Australian 2013–14 Gippsland bushfires
研究通过数学模型和分支定价算法，分析逆流策略在辅助疏散（包括老年人和残疾人）中如何缓解交通拥堵、缩短清理时间，并以澳大利亚丛林火灾案例验证，为应急决策提供支持。
Evacuation during a catastrophic disaster is a crucial operation that needs to be appropriately managed and is of more importance when considering the elderly and people with disabilities. The uncertain and unpredictable nature of disasters can cause long-term repercussions, especially in traffic congestion. This study presents a mathematical model to formulate traffic balance for regular and assisted evacuation (that is, disabled and the elderly) whilst considering traffic congestion in evacuation clearance time by applying contraflow. A Branch and Price (B&P) related approach is developed to help solve the proposed model in large-size problems. The presented algorithm is applied to a case study of Australia’s 2013–14 bushfires in Gippsland, located in the eastern part of Victoria. A variation test is performed to evaluate the robustness of results generated by the developed model. Results indicate that the participation percentage of edges is different based on their location, capacity, and sustainability of blockage. The edges’ capacity influences the evacuated population most compared to route capacity and time window. The output of this approach enables authorities to improve the resilience of communities by making optimal strategic and operational decisions for enhancing an evacuation response as well as influencing appropriate policies. • A novel integrated assisted mass evacuation model is developed to improve efficiency. • Evacuation of elderly people and those with disabilities are investigated in this study. • An Accelerated Branch & Price algorithm is proposed to tackle large-scale evacuation issues. • Contraflow is added to the model to boost network capacity and cut clearance time.