Anything more than a few people trying that at once would cause major problems on top of the existing problem that caused the evacuation.

I would rather have a loaded touring bicycle or some variant, perhaps motorized. You could carry more stuff and weave through traffic, carrying the bike and the load past many obstacles, as well as taking the road less traveled. Distance would vary with the individual, etc., but 100 miles in two days is very reasonable for anyone in any kind of shape.

Now I am not familiar with motorcycles, rather more with the pedal variety of two wheeler, but that load looks unstable. When pedaling, keeping the weight low and centered, distributed evenly between fore and aft, is key. Compact, efficient packaging is also important in minimizing wind resistance.

Note to self - when evacuating, head down wind if at all possible. That can make a huge difference in distance traveled....

It's a picture from one of the Mad Max movies, the post-apocalyptic films where there are all kinds of hooligans roaming about the desert trying to survive. Not known for their accuracy and realistic interpretations of motorcycle loads and balancing.

But it gets the point across, in a tongue-in-cheek sort of way. I would want a motorcycle for escape from a city to, just loaded a bit more realistically!

To be sure it's not realistic, if for no other reason that both cities have very rightly controlled airspace. And I'd expect it's illegal to take off from a residential street in both places :-).

That motorcycle looks like something from you might see in Morocco, Algeria, Egypt, Sahara... I would agree with Hikermor regarding stability, especially if the fuel cans are full.

That said, a small, lightly loaded motorcycle/scooter would work well if you had a bug-out place already stocked and no need for additional supplies.

I don't have one, but there are a number of scooters available that get 80-100 mpg and will move you and a bag of groceries well over 150 miles quickly and should be capable of weaving through traffic jams. The fairly new Yamaha Zuma 125 looks to have adequate storage for necessities on the road and will get you 170 miles on a single tank. No affiliation and this is not a recommendation, just an idea...

Beauty of the bicycle (+ dog trailer):

1) no worries about gasoline and gridlock caused when cars run out of gas, as many will before they reach even the Beltway.

2) ability to vacate the city via the National Mall, C&O Canal towpath (184 miles going northwest), Mt. Vernon trail (18 miles headed south), W&OD Trail (45 miles going west) and the many other bike paths we have in the DC metro area.

http://washcycle.typepad.com/bikemap/


DC's "Bikeshare" bikes surely would be part of the exodus.

I'm blessed to have so many hobbies which mesh with evacuation (such as camping, hiking, biking and bikejoring). I believe most of the credible threats against DC (including low-yield nuke or dirty bomb) would make sheltering-in, and least short-term, a better and more viable strategy than immediate evacuation. There will be no immediate evacuation unless the alert goes out at 3:00 a.m. and you happen to be one of the few who know to leave.



..

I rode the bike path from Arlington to Mt Vernon and figured it was about 30 miles round trip. That was a good work-out. In the early 90's the bike paths were well maintained and you could move fast (for a bike). It's frowned upon in normal times (read probably illegal) but in a pinch the bike paths would be an interesting option for a scooter to get outside the Metro area.

DC has a publication called "Transportation tips during an emergency incident."

It lists 19 "official" evacuation routes. IMO, even using all 19, it will at best very very slow. As Dagny points out there are other routes. IMO, trying to drive out will be impossible. Walk, cycle, scooters, dirt bikes and motorcycles will be the best alternatives.

link to the "tips:" http://ddot.dc.gov/sites/default/files/d...edness_2011.pdf