Challenges in Evacuation Traffic Management during Rapidly Intensifying Hurricanes in Florida

Rapidly intensifying hurricanes (RIHs) pose increasing challenges for evacuation traffic management, demanding faster and more coordinated decision-making across jurisdictions. This study examines how governance structures and interagency collaboration shape evacuation traffic outcomes in Florida. Drawing on 21 semistructured interviews with county and state emergency management and transportation officials, the study applies a collaborative governance framework to explore how contextual factors drive collaborative processes of communication and trust that, in turn, shape coordination capacity during RIHs. Findings reveal that fragmented authority, inconsistent engagement, and limited year-round coordination impede synchronized evacuation timing, information sharing, and traffic management. Leadership tensions, resource constraints, and data mistrust further weaken collaborative capacity, while inconsistent risk messaging contributes to public noncompliance and congestion. These results highlight a temporal vulnerability in collaborative governance under rapidly intensifying hazards, as compressed decision windows limit opportunities for trust-building and joint action. To enhance coordination, the study recommends strengthening regional governance mechanisms, institutionalizing year-round stakeholder engagement, and developing shared decision-making platforms to support unified, data-informed, and trusted communication during evacuations. The findings underscore that effective evacuation traffic management extends beyond technical solutions to include the governance processes that enable timely, coordinated, and credible action.