New Study Examines Role of Transportation in Campus Emergencies

  • By Dian Schaffhauser
  • 09/08/09

A new report from the Mineta Transportation Institute (MTI) is intended to help campuses consider potential transportation problems as part of their crisis planning. The report, "The Role of Transportation in Campus Emergency Planning," provides practical information about how universities and campuses settings can address the transportation aspects of disaster response and recovery. The 198-page report is available online for free.

Researchers provide a set of emergency operations plan checklists and organization charts with lessons learned from Katrina, 9/11 and other wide-scale emergencies. Its format is designed to encourage campus emergency planners to update their existing documents by inserting sections of the report. Or planners can create new National Incident Management System (NIMS)-compliant plans by adapting the complete set of appendixes to their universities' structures.

Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama sustained significant destruction from Hurricane Katrina, including damage to 31 colleges and universities. Other campuses, notably Louisiana State University (LSU), became resources to the disaster area. As a result, the Federal Department of Homeland Security, under Homeland Security Presidential Directive-5, requires all public agencies--including universities--that wish to receive federal preparedness assistance to comply with NIMS, which includes creating an emergency operations plan.

"While most university emergency plans address public safety and logistics management, few adequately address the transportation aspects of disaster response and recovery," said Frances Edwards, director of the Master of Public Administration program at San Jose State University and co-author of the report, along with Daniel C. Goodrich, an emergency preparedness coordinator for Lockheed Martin Space Systems. "This report describes the value of integrating transportation infrastructure into the campus emergency plan, including planning for helicopter operations."

The Mineta Transportation Institute, housed at San Jose State University, conducts research, education, and information and technology transfer focusing on transportation.

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • interconnected cloud icons with glowing lines on a gradient blue backdrop

    Report: Cloud Certifications Bring Biggest Salary Payoff

    It pays to be conversant in cloud, according to a new study from Skillsoft The company's annual IT skills and salary survey report found that the top three certifications resulting in the highest payoffs salarywise are for skills in the cloud, specifically related to Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, and Nutanix.

  • AI-inspired background pattern with geometric shapes and fine lines in muted blue and gray on a dark background

    IBM Releases Granite 3.0 Family of Advanced AI Models

    IBM has introduced its most advanced family of AI models to date, Granite 3.0, at its annual TechXchange event. The new models were developed to provide a combination of performance, flexibility, and autonomy that outperforms or matches similarly sized models from leading providers on a range of benchmarks.

  • landscape photo with an AI rubber stamp on top

    California AI Watermarking Bill Garners OpenAI Support

    ChatGPT creator OpenAI is backing a California bill that would require tech companies to label AI-generated content in the form of a digital "watermark." The proposed legislation, known as the "California Digital Content Provenance Standards" (AB 3211), aims to ensure transparency in digital media by identifying content created through artificial intelligence. This requirement would apply to a broad range of AI-generated material, from harmless memes to deepfakes that could be used to spread misinformation about political candidates.

  • happy woman sitting in front of computer

    Delightful Progress: Kuali's Legacy of Community and Leadership

    CEO Joel Dehlin updates us on Kuali today, and how it has thrived as a software company that succeeds in the tech marketplace while maintaining the community values envisioned in higher education years ago.