Project Summary
Wildfires have devastating consequences for urban and rural communities. Some studies highlight limited access to alternative transportation modes for wildfire evacuation as a driving force for disparities in wildfire impacts for vulnerable communities. There are also other constraints like accessibility to evacuation centers, limited timely information, loss of cell phones, and damage to communications infrastructure. While much attention in the literature has focused on wildfire evacuation disparities tied to transportation and communications infrastructure and policy needs, there is limited focus on supporting recovery and resilience. There is a critical need to synthesize the existing knowledge for (1) safe and timely wildfire evacuations, and (2) re-entry and recovery, with emphasis on the most vulnerable and under-resourced communities.
To support recovery and resiliency efforts for the January 2025 Los Angeles wildfires, local governments and transportation agencies will require a clear understanding of transportation related drivers of disparities in wildfire impacts (for vulnerable communities relative to more affluent communities), and beyond just the evacuation stage. This project will summarize the existing knowledge on transportation and infrastructure related needs for limiting harmful impacts of wildfire and strengthening communities’ recovering from wildfire devastation. The team will review publications and available transportation and land use data on communities that have experienced wildfires to characterize their transportation infrastructure and demographic characteristics, and contrast with any variations in community recovery times.
