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NARC Releases Transportation and Evacuation Planning Resource Guide
NARC Recognizes National Preparedness Month with Release of Transportation and Evacuation Planning Resource
Guide Guidebook Serves to Improve Vital Regional and Local Preparedness Work
Washington, DC (September 14, 2009) – The National Association of Regional Councils (NARC) released its Streamlining Cross-Linking Transportation and Evacuation Planning: A Resource Guide for Metropolitan Planning Organizations and Regional Councils. This publication, a result of a contract with the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) Office of Planning, will help further the state of the practice and engage regional councils (RCs) and metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs) on a more consistent and widespread level to streamline, cross-link and coordinate transportation and evacuation planning. Information on recommended topics for investigation, pertinent research papers and regional case studies are provided to facilitate increased regional approaches to multi-jurisdictional transportation and evacuation planning in manmade or natural disasters.
“The Resource Guide provides a comprehensive overview of the critical role RCs and MPOs play in transportation and evacuation planning,” said NARC President Stephen Cassano, Selectman, Town of Manchester, CT. “NARC, recognizes that manmade and natural disasters do not stop at city, county or state boundaries and, therefore, require the regional cooperation provided through RCs and MPOs - large, small, urban and rural - pre and post-disaster.”
Through a national Advisory Council of local elected officials, regional planning practitioners, business leaders, interest groups and federal agencies, NARC collected information on current activities and innovations in cross-linking evacuation and transportation planning at the regional level. Two workshops on planning for special needs populations and the impacts of data collection, analysis and implementation helped NARC establish critical transportation and evacuation planning factors, as well as a baseline for data collection to assist in emergency preparedness and response.
Click here to access the Streamlining Cross-Linking Transportation and Evacuation Planning: A Resource Guide for Metropolitan Planning Organizations and Regional Councils. Presentations and workshop summaries are available on NARC's website, www.NARC.org.