A $2.9 million federal grant is funding a study to determine the best way to evacuate Chicago in the event of an emergency.
Argonne National Laboratory will work with Pace and Metra as public transit planners run disaster and emergency simulations to determine the weaknesses of the second-largest public transportation system in the country. The Lemont-based lab says it also will evaluate new technology and develop techniques for quickly getting people in and out of the city when a natural or manmade disaster occurs.
Argonne will use its open-source high-speed computer designed for transportation planning, as well as data sheets detailing streets, waterways and traffic lights in Chicago to study how traffic functions.
The Chicago Sun-Times (http://bit.ly/17Gf8v0 ) reports the new emergency planning and response tools concluded in the Chicago testing scenarios will be shared with other cities.
Copyright AP - Associated Press
