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Incorporating Social Vulnerability Variables in Measures to Quantify Access to Opportunities

Journal Article · · Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board
 [1];  [1];  [1]
  1. Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
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Herein this study quantifies access to travel opportunities to understand what societal factors are linked with local access and to identify communities with reduced access. We introduce a method to compare accessibility across all census tracts in the United States that can be used across geographically diverse communities ranging from sparsely to densely populated areas. This study considers six key opportunities which we consider essential for all communities (grocery stores, public schools, daycares, primary care doctors, pharmacies, and parks), and six additional destinations which can be viewed as a social safety net (homeless shelters, women’s shelters, food pantries, libraries, vocational schools, and banks). We quantify accessibility to these opportunities within a 15 min walk, transit trip, bicycle ride, and automobile drive for every census tract in the United States, and observe a decrease in vehicle miles traveled and vehicle ownership in tracts with increased walkability. Through analysis at the census tract level, this study incorporates variables of social vulnerability with these cumulative opportunity metrics to better understand diminished accessibility as attributed to social and racial inequities. As example findings, we find decreased access to financial services in communities with high minority and limited English speaking populations, no apparent change in access for childcare in communities with high percentages of single-parent families, and potentially increased or decreased access to women’s healthcare resources for Black women depending on the travel mode.
Research Organization:
Argonne National Laboratory (ANL), Argonne, IL (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC02-06CH11357
OSTI ID:
2427986
Journal Information:
Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board, Journal Name: Transportation Research Record: Journal of the Transportation Research Board Journal Issue: 12 Vol. 2678; ISSN 0361-1981
Publisher:
SAGECopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Related Subjects

99 GENERAL AND MISCELLANEOUS
accessibility
isochrone
social vulnerability
transportation equity
vehicle miles traveled (VMT)