On-demand car transportation is going to change many things in our car-culture-centered United States. Today if an evacuation is ordered, the "assumption" is that the majority of people will find their way out of the impacted area via their privately owned vehicle (POV). This is particularly true for suburbia. This is an appropriate assumption for 2015. It is unlikely that it will hold true in 20-30 years.

Typically emergency managers would only be considering low-income people and homebound elderly and disabled when thinking about providing public transportation to help in the evacuation of a city, especially an urban area. The failure to evacuate is well documented from the impacts we saw in New Orleans with the onslaught of Hurricane Katrina.

Jump forward a score of years, and driverless, autonomous cars may be much more the norm. I've read where just one of those can replace nine POVs since our personal vehicles are generally only sitting unused most of the time. Vehicle ownership is expected to decline significantly and people will use "on-demand" vehicles for personal transportation. Like a cab, without the driver, it will show up at your doorstep and take you to your destination with you being charged most likely by the mile, with perhaps a basic fee tacked on for each trip. You'll use your smartphone and an app, if we still have apps, and it will all be deducted from your bank account automatically.

For some this sounds wonderful, others will likely hate it. Be that as it may, it is the future. Cost and urban density will help "drive" this bold move into the future.

So here is the challenge. The number of vehicles 1:9 will not match the number of people asking for a vehicle at the very same time in order to evacuate. This then is the problem some enterprising young person going through the emergency management education system should tackle as a thesis.

My personal assumption is that I expect to be dead before I have to deal with the above. However, if you are just entering the workforce now and will have a 45-year emergency management career, then get ready for the inevitable!