Challenges in Evacuation Traffic Management during Rapidly Intensifying Hurricanes in Florida

Rapidly intensifying hurricanes (RIHs) pose increasing challenges for evacuation traffic management, demanding faster and more coordinated decision-making across jurisdictions. This study examines how governance structures and interagency collaboration shape evacuation traffic outcomes in Florida. Drawing on 21 semistructured interviews with county and state emergency management and transportation officials, the study applies a collaborative governance framework to explore how contextual factors drive collaborative processes of communication and trust that, in turn, shape coordination capacity during RIHs. Findings reveal that fragmented authority, inconsistent engagement, and limited year-round coordination impede synchronized evacuation timing, information sharing, and traffic management. Leadership tensions, resource constraints, and data mistrust further weaken collaborative capacity, while inconsistent risk messaging contributes to public noncompliance and congestion. These results highlight a temporal vulnerability in collaborative governance under rapidly intensifying hazards, as compressed decision windows limit opportunities for trust-building and joint action. To enhance coordination, the study recommends strengthening regional governance mechanisms, institutionalizing year-round stakeholder engagement, and developing shared decision-making platforms to support unified, data-informed, and trusted communication during evacuations. The findings underscore that effective evacuation traffic management extends beyond technical solutions to include the governance processes that enable timely, coordinated, and credible action

Collaborative governance · Corporate governance · Emergency management · Poison control · Stakeholder · Stakeholder engagement · Disaster Management and Resilience · Evacuation and Crowd Dynamics · Public Relations and Crisis Communication

• Evaluating the Productivity of Collaborative Governance Regimes

  Kirk Emerson, Tina Nabatchi•Public Performance & Management…•2015

  Incluir item

• Improving Coastal Storm Evacuation Messages

  Open Access•Cara L Cuite, Rachael Shwom et al.•Weather, Climate, and Society•2017

  Incluir item

• Governing the post-disaster recovery network in Nepal

  Open Access•Barsha Manandhar, Yogesh Dongol et al.•International Journal of Disaster…•2022

  Incluir item

• Incorporating human factors in emergency evacuation – An overview of behavioral factors and models

  Open Access•Yi Wang, Miltos Kyriakidis et al.•International Journal of Disaster…•2021

  Incluir item

• Collaborative Public Management

  Open Access•Rosemary O’leary, Nidhi Vij•The American Review of Public…•2012

  Incluir item

• Designing, Managing, and Sustaining Functionally Collaborative Emergency Management Networks

  Open Access•Naim Kapucu, Vener Garayev•The American Review of Public…•2012

  Incluir item

• Interagency Communication Networks During Emergencies

  Open Access•Naim Kapucu•The American Review of Public…•2006

  Incluir item

• Networking and Crisis Management Capacity

  Open Access•Daniel Nohrstedt•The American Review of Public…•2016

  Incluir item

• Understanding Multiplexity of Collaborative Emergency Management Networks

  Open Access•Naim Kapucu, Qian Hu•The American Review of Public…•2014

  Incluir item

• Disaster and emergency management systems in urban areas

  Open Access•Naim Kapucu•Cities•2012

  Incluir item

• Decentralization, pluralization, balkanization? Challenges for disaster mitigation and governance in Mumbai

  Open Access•D Parthasarathy•Habitat International•2016

  Incluir item

• The Design and Implementation of Cross‐Sector Collaborations

  Open Access•John M Bryson, Barbara C Crosby et al.•Public Administration Review•2006

  Incluir item

• Core Concepts and Key Ideas for Understanding Public Sector Organizational Networks

  Open Access•Keith G Provan, Robin H Lemaire•Public Administration Review•2012

  Incluir item

• Inside Collaborative Networks

  Open Access•Robert Agranoff•Public Administration Review•2006

  Incluir item

• Collaborative Governance in Theory and Practice

  Christopher Ansell, Chris Ansell et al.•Journal of Public Administration…•2007

  Incluir item