Several traffic modeling tools are currently available for evacuation planning and real-time decision support during emergencies. This paper reviews potential traffic-modeling approaches in the context of wildland–urban interface (WUI) fire-evacuation applications. Existing modeling approaches and features are evaluated pertaining to fire-related, spatial, and demographic factors; intended application (planning or decision support); and temporal issues. This systematic review shows the importance of the following modeling approaches: dynamic modeling structures, considering behavioral variability and route choice; activity-based models for short-notice evacuation planning; and macroscopic traffic simulation for real-time evacuation management. Subsequently, the modeling features of 22 traffic models and applications currently available in practice and the literature are reviewed and matched with the benchmark features identified for WUI fire applications. Based on this review analysis, recommendations are made for developing traffic models specifically applicable to WUI fire evacuation, including possible integrations with wildfire and pedestrian models.

The Urban Heat Island (UHI) phenomenon is commonly solved by implementing materials with optimal thermic and evapotranspiration properties which help decreasing the air temperature in dense urban areas. This approach has been applied in this study, testing six different materials (replacing the current Macadam) in one parking area in Bari (Italy), which provides a large-scale testbed, by means of a thermal three-dimensional non-hydrostatic simulation: impervious asphalt pavement (IAP), asphalt permeable pavement (APP), green pavement (GP), green pavement-asphalt permeable pavement (GP+APP), grey porous concrete blocks (GCB), and light concrete permeable pavement (LCPP). The highest-performance pavements in terms of potential air temperature (PAT) reduction were the GP (−1.22°C), GCB (−1.26°C) and LCPP (−1.22°C), which also showed a constant relative humidity, suggesting their UHI mitigation benefits. A comparison of the structural properties as well as the construction and maintenance costs of such pavements is also provided, finding the best mitigation strategy (GCB).

The integrated protocol, including: 1) the HSM predictive method, 2) the EU Regulations, 3) the local road design standards, 4) some research developments; is applied to real two-lane rural road segments requiring safety-based interventions. Its application is divided in the typical road safety analysis stages.

The need for improving urban road safety, livability, and sustainability is evident. Quantitative estimates and qualitative methods/strategies can be used by road safety practitioners to design safety interventions. This study proposes a flexible integrated design framework for safety interventions on existing urban road segments and intersections that integrates quantitative and qualitative methods. The proposed design framework is divided into four stages of the safety management process: End of Network Screening, Diagnosis, Selection of Countermeasures, and Economic Assessment. Pilot applications of the proposed method were performed on existing roads of the urban road network of the Municipality of Bari, Italy. Results from the application were useful to highlight some possible problems in the different stages of the design process. In particular, the discussed problems include a lack of crash and traffic data, difficulties with defining the road functional classifications, including rural-to-urban transitions, a lack of local inspection procedures, the recurrent problems from diagnosis, difficulties regarding the safety assessment of cycling infrastructures and sight distances, the criteria for grouping countermeasures into sets, and the choice of appropriate predictive methods. In response, appropriate solutions to the highlighted problems were presented. The usefulness of the proposed method for both practitioners and researchers was shown.