Narrative:

I was the captain and pilot flying. We had a partial crew swap and got a new first officer (first officer) and 1 new flight attendant (flight attendant). We pushed back on time and during pushback; we were cleared to start engine 2. After the start; the ground crew disconnected and we ran the after start checklist. Before starting the taxi checklist the flight attendant used the emergency call button and contacted us saying there was smoke in the cabin. She said she wanted to open the door. I inquired how much smoke or what she thought was going on. She seemed a bit panicked so I asked the first officer to look in the back and see what he thought. He opened the door; looked back and said 'yes there is a lot of smoke back there.' I asked the flight attendant what she wanted to do and she said she wanted to evacuate. I said; 'ok; take them out the front.' the first officer and I ran the evacuation checklist and I informed ATC that we would like the firetrucks and we would be evacuating on the ramp. After running the checklist and powering down the airplane the first officer went outside to help gather passengers. I then noticed that passengers were exiting the aircraft through the over wing exits. After all the passengers were off the aircraft I went through the cabin to ensure no other passengers were in the aircraft. I then exited the aircraft and had the flight attendant take the passengers inside with a person from operations that showed up. FA1 went inside with the passengers and then FA2 said he would get a count of the passengers and make sure everyone was accounted for. After talking with the fire department we went inside the terminal and the aircraft was towed away by maintenance presumably.I am unsure of the cause of the smoke. The fas said it was an electrical smell but they couldn't find the source. I did not hear the PA announcement from the forward flight attendant but I can assume she didn't have them come to the forward door and didn't tell the aft flight attendant to have everyone come forward. The aft FA2 told me that once he heard the forward FA1 mention evacuation that the passengers just grabbed the window exits and started leaving through the windows. Although everything happened very quickly I didn't feel like a mass evacuation was in order where it was possible for injuries to occur. The evacuation checklist doesn't allow for an orderly evacuation although I tried to make that happen. A deplaning process could be a beneficial discussion verse a full evacuation per the book.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: CRJ-700 Captain reported the aircraft was evacuated after engine start and prior to taxi due to smoke in the cabin.

Narrative: I was the Captain and Pilot Flying. We had a partial crew swap and got a new FO (First Officer) and 1 new FA (Flight Attendant). We pushed back on time and during pushback; we were cleared to start engine 2. After the start; the ground crew disconnected and we ran the after start checklist. Before starting the taxi checklist the FA used the emergency call button and contacted us saying there was smoke in the cabin. She said she wanted to open the door. I inquired how much smoke or what she thought was going on. She seemed a bit panicked so I asked the FO to look in the back and see what he thought. He opened the door; looked back and said 'Yes there is a lot of smoke back there.' I asked the FA what she wanted to do and she said she wanted to evacuate. I said; 'OK; take them out the front.' The FO and I ran the evacuation checklist and I informed ATC that we would like the firetrucks and we would be evacuating on the ramp. After running the checklist and powering down the airplane the FO went outside to help gather passengers. I then noticed that passengers were exiting the aircraft through the over wing exits. After all the passengers were off the aircraft I went through the cabin to ensure no other passengers were in the aircraft. I then exited the aircraft and had the FA take the passengers inside with a person from Operations that showed up. FA1 went inside with the passengers and then FA2 said he would get a count of the passengers and make sure everyone was accounted for. After talking with the fire department we went inside the terminal and the aircraft was towed away by Maintenance presumably.I am unsure of the cause of the smoke. The FAs said it was an electrical smell but they couldn't find the source. I did not hear the PA announcement from the forward FA but I can assume she didn't have them come to the forward door and didn't tell the aft FA to have everyone come forward. The Aft FA2 told me that once he heard the forward FA1 mention evacuation that the passengers just grabbed the window exits and started leaving through the windows. Although everything happened very quickly I didn't feel like a mass evacuation was in order where it was possible for injuries to occur. The evacuation checklist doesn't allow for an orderly evacuation although I tried to make that happen. A deplaning process could be a beneficial discussion verse a full evacuation per the book.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.