Chicago transit system urged to fix evacuation plans

An evacuation amid the chaos following a major terrorist attack or natural disaster in Chicago would leave the elderly and disabled especially vulnerable, according to a federal report.

The report, released Tuesday in Washington, looked at the adequacy of mass-transit emergency evacuation in 38 urban areas, but studied Chicago and four other metropolitan areas in depth.

All five areas -- Chicago, Houston, Tampa-St. Petersburg, New York and Los Angeles -- fell short in some aspects of emergency transit planning, according to National Research Council's Transportation Research Board.

But the study found Chicago's transit system is prepared for all but the worst calamities.

Challenges include limited transit capacity in Los Angeles and lack of public transit personnel during midday hours in Chicago.

None of the transportation systems in the five metro areas is prepared to handle a short-notice evacuation of most of their population, the report concluded. In New York, for example, "all emergency evacuation plans are predicated on partial evacuations and sheltering in the area, if necessary."

Chicago, New York and Los Angeles also have challenges with coordinating plans for large-scale evacuations because they include numerous cities, counties, even states in the case of the New York area, the report said.

An official with Chicago 2016, the committee pushing to win the Olympic Games, said it's too early in the bid process to focus on specific safety concerns such as those raised in the report.

"If Chicago were awarded the games, we would work closely with ... all organizations involved on proper evacuation planning, however this early in the bidding stage it's not something that the [International Olympic Committee] is specifically looking at," said Patrick Sandusky, a committee spokesman.

"Currently the IOC's focus is on general security and managed response, which Chicago received very high marks on in the recent IOC report."

More work needs to be done to identify and communicate with special-needs individuals who rely heavily on mass transit and to provide assistance and shelter for those who cannot help themselves in an emergency evacuation, according to the study. "Identifying and evacuating special-needs populations, particularly those who would need assistance in an emergency, remains a major challenge," the report said.

Chicago has a high percentage of vulnerable populations, the report said. Eighteen percent of families live below the poverty line; more than 10 percent of the population is 65 or older; 12 percent of people over age 5 have disabilities; and 34 percent of residents speak a language other than English at home.

Also, 15 percent of occupied housing units within the area's transit system were without access to a private vehicle, according to the 2000 U.S. census.

Chicago-area officials also must develop a more regional evacuation plan to ensure all major agencies are coordinated in the event of a serious emergency, the report said.

The report credited Chicago for integrating the city's "well-developed transportation system" into emergency planning.

Nevertheless, better coordination is necessary with the suburbs, collar counties and neighboring states to ensure adequate shelters, police protection, fuel and supplies so that outlying communities would not be overwhelmed by a major evacuation of the city.

Chicago Transit Authority officials consider the agency a first responder in an emergency and the CTA is listed as a primary support agency in the event of an evacuation, the report said.

Metra also would play a key role in an evacuation, but the report noted that Metra does not have buses or a sufficient police force to move passengers once they reach suburban rail stations and would have to rely on others to provide such services.

Pace officials do not consider the agency a primary responder, although Pace has its own evacuation plan, the report said.

In response to the report, officials with the city's Office of Emergency Management and Communications said it continually trains and conducts exercises with local, state and federal partners.