New Faculty Research on Transportation, Vulnerable Populations, and COVID-19

By Marcus Coles

Researchers and professors from Old Dominion University were recently awarded a $4,000 Quick Response Grant from the Natural Hazards Center from a special call for research on COVD-19 and transportation. This research grant will specifically focus on transportation, vulnerable populations, and COVID-19.

With the coronavirus pandemic, came new guidelines to prioritize everybody's health and safety. In an interview, Nicole Hutton, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science and Geography, discussed the new evacuation guidance as "instead of having people evacuate long distances emergency managers suggest for people to stay locally with friends or family with a residence that can withstand expected winds and is above expected flood levels."

Jennifer Whytlaw, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science and Geography and co-researcher on the project, said "different state agencies are looking at campgrounds, Airbnb's, and many other options as non-congregate shelters during the pandemic. Emergency Managers are working with Uber and Lyft to develop a voucher system to get non-congregate transportation resources available instead of buses." In addition, Hutton stated, "the voucher would be made available to households in need of evacuation assistance."

Whytlaw, Hutton, and Saige Hill, PhD Student in Public Administration & Policy asked about how COVID-19 would affect the behavior of individuals in need of evacuation and shelter. According to Hutton, the researchers found more people intend to evacuate this year than in previous years, and she further stated that there may be possible financial issues linked to lay-offs and business closures associated with the virus.

In terms of public sheltering, Hutton stated "public sheltering is typically a last resort, so they typically serve the most vulnerable populations". They also found in their research that "anyone who had to go to a public shelter before was considering going this year, which negates any concerns they have about COVID-19 transmission because they have no other choice." Ultimately, "if emergency managers did not come up with non-congregate options like hotels and rideshares, they might have populations with limited resources stay in an at-risk areas because of COVID-19 concerns."

Overall, they found that tackling these different tasks in different areas of the country is not easy, especially when someone is trying to appeal to a large audience for the greater good.

For more information, contact Jennifer Whytlaw, Nicole Hutton, and Saige Hill at jwhytlaw@odu.edu, nhuttons@odu.edu, and shill054@odu.edu or visit the COVID-19 and Transportation website.

Marcus Coles is a senior Communication major. This news release was written as part of a class collaboration project to give students real-world newswriting experience.