Creating a Transit-Inclusive Food Desert Index for Baltimore City

As American cities have seen a change in land uses in urban areas, with stores moving to suburban areas increasing the reliance on cars, many urban areas are left with a lack of accessible quality food options. These “food desert” locations, where residents lack both access and sufficient economic resources to purchase healthy food, result in health disparities for residents in these communities. Decades of population loss in Baltimore have resulted in nearly one in four residents living in food deserts. The objective of this project is two-fold: (1) determine a food desert score or metric that takes into account public transportation access as well as vehicle ownership and (2) understand how people who live in food deserts access grocery stores.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $59959
• Contract Numbers:

  69A43551747123

• Sponsor Organizations:

  U.S. Department of Transportation

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590

  Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

  University Transportation Centers Program
  Department of Transportation
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Urban Mobility and Equity Center

  Morgan State University
  Baltimore, MD  United States  21251
• Project Managers:

  Tucker-Thomas, Dawn

• Performing Organizations:

  Morgan State University

  1700 E. Coldspring Lane
  Baltimore, Maryland  United States  21251
• Principal Investigators:

  Chavis, Celeste

• Start Date: 20170601
• Expected Completion Date: 20190630
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Accessibility; Automobile ownership; Deserts; Food; Health; Public transit; Residential location; Urban areas; Welfare economics
• Geographic Terms: Baltimore (Maryland)
• Subject Areas: Economics; Highways; Public Transportation;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01637697
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Urban Mobility and Equity Center
• Contract Numbers: 69A43551747123
• Files: UTC, RiP
• Created Date: Jun 2 2017 3:29PM