Integrating foot access with public transit service where there are food deserts

The goal of this research is to quantify and better understand accessibility to healthy food retailers. The new $1.2 trillion infrastructure bill calls for a transportation system that provides equitable access to jobs and critical amenities, such as schools, day care, and healthy food opportunities. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has called for the mitigation of food desert. They define as “urban neighborhoods and rural towns without ready access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food”. This project aims to do the following: (1) identify spatial and temporal patterns of transit-based accessibility to healthy food retailers; (2) estimate travel times at the census block group level to create a new food desert index; (3) statistically evaluate socioeconomic disparities between residents living in neighborhoods with low access to healthy food retailers and the citywide average; and (4) develop an open-source toolkit in ArcGIS Pro, which enables planners to integrate data on transit services and food retailers’ characteristics in other cities.

Language

  • English

Project

  • Status: Active
  • Funding: $80000
  • Contract Numbers:

    69A3551747110

  • Sponsor Organizations:

    Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium

    University of Washington
    More Hall Room 112
    Seattle, WA  United States  98195-2700

    Office of the Assistant Secretary for Research and Technology

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

    University of Idaho, Moscow

    Department of Civil Engineering
    P.O. Box 441022
    Moscow, ID  United States  83844-1022
  • Project Managers:

    Liao, Felix Haifeng

  • Performing Organizations:

    University of Idaho, Moscow

    Department of Civil Engineering
    P.O. Box 441022
    Moscow, ID  United States  83844-1022
  • Principal Investigators:

    Liao, Felix Haifeng

  • Start Date: 20220316
  • Expected Completion Date: 20230630
  • Actual Completion Date: 0
  • USDOT Program: University Transportation Centers Program

Subject/Index Terms

Filing Info

  • Accession Number: 01872761
  • Record Type: Research project
  • Source Agency: Pacific Northwest Transportation Consortium
  • Contract Numbers: 69A3551747110
  • Files: UTC, RIP
  • Created Date: Feb 8 2023 4:15PM