I know the easy answer is politics but it has to be more complicated that that because evacuations tend to involve other things that go against certain politics (like free food and open shelters). And even though somewhere like Florida doesn’t have tons of public buses, it would be logistically relatively easy to redirect the ones they do have plus school buses and private buses that are currently in disuse. Or for Amtrak to send extra trains down there, like cities do for sporting events. I’m seeing a lot of people online who seem like they’d be willing to jump on the first train/bus/plane to literally anywhere. What’s the logic in not making that more available as an option?
I’m using the US but I do feel like it’s not something you see even in general, at least not as much as expected.
Are there more complex reasons that I’m not considering?
In: Other
Like everyone else said, they are, to shelters. Why aren’t local busses headed out of town?
1. Local busses are being used for prep and evacuation already. In the lead up to the storm, people rely on public transit to get to work (including essential workers who cannot evacuate), to grocery stores, to safer places nearby, to airports, to train stations, etc.
2. There are already long distance busses available through Greyhound and regional bus networks.
3. People want to save their cars. If you HAVE a car, you want to get your car somewhere safe. The easiest way to do that is to drive it somewhere.
4. Budget. Re-routing a few busses to local area shelters isn’t a huge ask. Driving busses out of town completely off any local route requires more gas/drivers.
5. Logistics. You don’t simply drive a bunch of local busses out of town without drivers trained on the route or plans on where to re-fuel.
6. Local busses are not necessarily designed for long distance transport. They have hard plastic seats and no bathrooms or places to store luggage.
7. Transportation is only one reason people can’t/don’t evacuate. Many are worried about paying for hotels/food/basic needs while traveling. Busses to free shelters help those people.
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