Addressing social equity in public transportation remains a key challenge for many cities and planning organizations. In this study, we examined social equity dimensions of accessibility to light rail transit (LRT) stations in Salt Lake County, U.S., by employing two novel methods. First, we used the two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method to examine the interactions between the demand and supply of the public transit service. Second, we developed geospatial models to account for spatial bias in transit equity analysis. Results showed little evidence of inequitable access to LRT stations in Salt Lake County. The accessibility to LRT stations appeared to be generally higher in the downtown and transit catchment areas with a higher concentration of low-income and ethnic minority populations. Furthermore, we found statistically significant associations between higher transit accessibility and households which are not homeowners, and/or do not own a private motor vehicle. Our findings suggest that transit investments in Salt Lake County could leverage substantial transportation accessibility opportunities to achieve an equitable and sustainable future.
LitmanT.Evaluating Accessibility for Transportation Planning: Measuring People’s Ability to Reach Desired Goods and Activities. Technical Report January2008. Victoria Transport Policy Institute, British Columbia, Canada, 2012.
2.
HansenW. G.How Accessibility Shapes Land Use. Journal of the American Planning Association, Vol. 25, No. 2, 1959, pp. 73–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944365908978307.
3.
IaconoM.KrizekK. J.El-GeneidyA.Measuring Non-Motorized Accessibility: Issues, Alternatives, and Execution. Journal of Transport Geography, Vol. 18, No. 1, 2010, pp. 133–140. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2009.02.002.
4.
NeutensT.Accessibility, Equity and Health Care: Review and Research Directions for Transport Geographers. Journal of Transport Geography, Vol. 43, 2015, pp. 14–27. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2014.12.006.
ErmagunA.TilahunN.Equity of Transit Accessibility Across Chicago. Transportation Research Part D: Transport and Environment, Vol. 86, 2020, p. 102461. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trd.2020.102461.
7.
Nazari AdliS.ChowdhuryS.ShiftanY.Justice in Public Transport Systems: A Comparative Study of Auckland, Brisbane, Perth and Vancouver. Cities, Vol. 90, 2019, pp. 88–99. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cities.2019.01.031.
8.
TaoZ.ChengY.LiuJ.Hierarchical Two-Step Floating Catchment Area (2SFCA) Method: Measuring the Spatial Accessibility to Hierarchical Healthcare Facilities in Shenzhen, China. International Journal for Equity in Health, Vol. 19, No. 1, 2020, pp. 1–16. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12939-020-01280-7.
9.
JangS.AnY.YiC.LeeS.Assessing the Spatial Equity of Seoul’s Public Transportation Using the Gini Coefficient Based on Its Accessibility. International Journal of Urban Sciences, Vol. 21, No. 1, 2017, pp. 91–107. https://doi.org/10.1080/12265934.2016.1235487.
10.
KarnerA.Assessing Public Transit Service Equity Using Route-Level Accessibility Measures and Public Data. Journal of Transport Geography, Vol. 67, 2018, pp. 24–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2018.01.005.
11.
BierbaumA. H.KarnerA.BarajasJ. M.Toward Mobility Justice: Linking Transportation and Education Equity in the Context of School Choice. Journal of the American Planning Association, Vol. 87, No. 2, 2021, pp. 197–210. https://doi.org/10.1080/01944363.2020.1803104.
LitmanT.Evaluating Transportation Equity: Guidance for Incorporating Distributional Impacts in Transport Planning. Victoria Transport Policy Institute, British Columbia, Canada, 2021, pp. 9–25.
14.
IngramD. R.The Concept of Accessibility: A Search for an Operational Form. Regional Studies, Vol. 5, 1971, pp. 101–107.
15.
GeursK.van EckJ. R.Accessibility Measures: Review and Applications, Evaluation of Accessibility Impacts of Land-Use Transport Scenarios, and Related Social and Economic Impacts. Technical Report. Urban Research Center, Utrecht University, Netherlands, 2001.
16.
BhatC.HandyS.KockelmanK.MahmassaniH.ChenQ.WestonL.Urban Accessibility Index: Literature Review. Technical Report. University of Texas at Austin, 2000.
17.
PirieG. H.Measuring Accessibility: A Review and Proposal. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, Vol. 11, No. 3, 1979, pp. 299–312. https://doi.org/10.1068/a110299.
18.
KoenigJ. G.Indicators of Urban Accessibility: Theory and Application. Transportation, Vol. 9, No. 2, 1980, pp. 145–172. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00167128.
19.
SternA.StacyC.BlaggK.SuY.NobleE.RainerM.EzikeR.Access to Opportunity Through Equitable Transportation: Technical Appendix. Urban Institute: Elevate the Debate, 2020, p. 14. http://www.urban.org.
20.
MoniruzzamanM.PáezA.Accessibility to Transit, by Transit, and Mode Share: Application of a Logistic Model with Spatial Filters. Journal of Transport Geography, Vol. 24, 2012, pp. 198–205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2012.02.006.
21.
LevineJ.GrengsJ.MerlinL. A.From Mobility to Accessibility: Transforming Urban Transportation and Land-Use Planning. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, NY, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781501716102.
22.
DelboscA.CurrieG.Using Lorenz Curves to Assess Public Transport Equity. Journal of Transport Geography, Vol. 19, No. 6, 2011, pp. 1252–1259. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2011.02.008.
23.
FothN.ManaughK.El-GeneidyA. M.Towards Equitable Transit: Examining Transit Accessibility and Social Need in Toronto, Canada, 1996-2006. Journal of Transport Geography, Vol. 29, 2013, pp. 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2012.12.008.
24.
LoayzaC.DillmanM.The State of Transportation Equity in Utah: An Evolving Movement. Technical Report. Utah Division of Multicultural Affairs, Salt Lake City, 2022.
KiranK. C.CorcoranJ.ChhetriP.Measuring the Spatial Accessibility to Fire Stations Using Enhanced Floating Catchment Method. Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Vol. 69, 2020, p. 100673. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.seps.2018.11.010.
31.
LangfordM.HiggsG.FryR.Multi-Modal Two-Step Floating Catchment Area Analysis of Primary Health Care Accessibility. Health and Place, Vol. 38, 2016, pp. 70–81. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2015.11.007.
32.
McGrailM. R.Spatial Accessibility of Primary Health Care Utilising the Two Step Floating Catchment Area Method: An Assessment of Recent Improvements. International Journal of Health Geographics, Vol. 11, 2012, pp. 1–12. https://doi.org/10.1186/1476-072X-11-50.
33.
LuoW.QiY.An Enhanced Two-Step Floating Catchment Area (E2SFCA) Method for Measuring Spatial Accessibility to Primary Care Physicians. Health and Place, Vol. 15, No. 4, 2009, pp. 1100–1107. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.healthplace.2009.06.002.
34.
LiC.WangJ.A Hierarchical Two-Step Floating Catchment Area Analysis for High-Tier Hospital Accessibility in an Urban Agglomeration Region. Journal of Transport Geography, Vol. 102, 2022, p. 103369. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2022.103369.
35.
WuJ.ChenH.WangH.HeQ.ZhouK.Will the Opening Community Policy Improve the Equity of Green Accessibility and in What Ways? — Response Based on a 2step Floating Catchment Area Method and Genetic Algorithm. Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol. 263, 2020, p. 121454. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.121454.
36.
AppleyardB. S.FrostA. R.AllenC.Are All Transit Stations Equal and Equitable? Calculating Sustainability, Livability, Health, & Equity Performance of Smart Growth & Transit-Oriented-Development (TOD). Journal of Transport and Health, Vol. 14, 2019, p. 100584. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jth.2019.100584.
37.
DillJ.HaggertyB.Equity Analysis of Portland’s Draft Bicycle Master Plan. Technical Report. Portland State University, OR, 2009.
38.
FreitasW. W.de SouzaR. M.AmaralG. J.De BastianiF.Exploratory Spatial Analysis for Interval Data: A New Autocorrelation Index with COVID-19 and Rent Price Applications. Expert Systems with Applications, Vol. 195, 2022, p. 116561. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eswa.2022.116561.
39.
MahrousM.CurtiE.ChurakovS. V.PrasianakisN. I.Petrophysical Initialization of Core-Scale Reactive Transport Simulations on Indiana Limestones: Pore-Scale Characterization, Spatial Autocorrelations, and Representative Elementary Volume Analysis. Journal of Petroleum Science and Engineering, Vol. 213, 2022, p. 110389. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.petrol.2022.110389.
40.
FischerM. M.WangJ.Spatial Data Analysis: Models, Methods and Techniques. Springer, New York, 2011.
41.
LiM.JiaoY.XuB.ZhangC.XueY.RenY.Spatial Analyses of the Influence of Autocorrelation on Seasonal Diet Composition of a Marine Fish Species. Fisheries Research, Vol. 228, 2020, p. 105563. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fishres.2020.105563.
42.
ZhuB.HsiehC. W.ZhangY.Incorporating Spatial Statistics into Examining Equity in Health Workforce Distribution: An Empirical Analysis in the Chinese Context. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, Vol. 15, No. 7, p. 1309. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph15071309.
43.
SaputroD. R.MuhsininR. Y.WidyaningsihP.Sulistyaningsih. Spatial Autoregressive with a Spatial Autoregressive Error Term Model and Its Parameter Estimation with Two-Stage Generalized Spatial Least Square Procedure. Journal of Physics: Conference Series, Vol. 1217, No. 1, 2019. https://doi.org/10.1088/1742-6596/1217/1/012104.
McKaneR. G.Mobility for Whom? Transit Equity in the Unaffordable City. PhD thesis. Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN, 2020.
46.
PadeiroM.LouroA.da CostaN. M.Transit-Oriented Development and Gentrification: A Systematic Review. Transport Reviews, Vol. 39, No. 6, 2019, pp. 733–754. https://doi.org/10.1080/01441647.2019.1649316.
47.
EwingR.A Mixed Picture of Gentrification. Planning, Vol. 83, No. 11, 2017, pp. 43–44.
48.
XieF.LevinsonD.How Streetcars Shaped Suburbanization: A Granger Causality Analysis of Land Use and Transit in the Twin Cities. Journal of Economic Geography, Vol. 10, No. 3, 2010, pp. 453–470. https://doi.org/10.1093/jeg/lbp031.
