Streamlining Disaster Response: A Benchmark Study on Population Evacuation Planning with Telecommunication Network

Hassan Idoudi, Mostafa Ameli, Cyril Nguyen Van Phu, Mahdi Zargayouna, Abderrezak Rachedi

Abstract: In times of disaster, swift and efficient population evacuation is crucial to minimize losses. This study presents a generic framework for dynamic population evacuation (DPE), incorporating both planning and online management using vehicular communication. The framework deploys dynamic shelter allocation and traffic assignment techniques in the planning phase and combines an agent-based traffic simula-tor to represent the evacuation process with a vehicular ad hoc network (VANET), enabling real-time communication and decision-making among evacuees. The proposed methodology allows us to benchmark a range of evacuation strategies, focusing on identifying the most effective configuration of the framework's objective functions for DPE planning, particularly in large-scale scenarios. Additionally, the study investigates the optimal Penetration Rate (PR) - the proportion of vehicles that are capable of communicating with each other and the infrastructure. The aim is to determine the level of vehicle connectivity that promotes the most efficient evacuation procedures. A detailed benchmark comparison is conducted of two prevalent telecommunication network architectures: the centralized VCC and the distributed Vehicular Fog Computing (VFC). Multiple insights into the performance of these systems during evacuation situations are provided. The results show that a VFC architecture is the most suitable for large-scale population evacuation.