15-Minute Accessibility to Grocery Stores in Scarborough, Toronto, Canada

Keywords: urban accessibility, accessibility, network analysis, socioeconomic condition
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 2/25/2022 02:00 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/25/2022 03:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 6

Abstract

A key issue associated with growing urban areas is transportation. Previous urban planning methods have become ineffective, so researchers have been promoting a move towards accessibility-based planning. Accessibility describes the extent to which transportation systems allow individuals to reach destinations and the potential of opportunities for interaction. Research on accessibility over the past decade found that accessibility can vary between travel modes and can be affected by socioeconomic conditions. However, accessibility research has been mainly focused on analyzing long-distance access to jobs. As a result, short-distance accessibility, and accessibility to nonwork destinations, have gone largely unstudied. To fill the gaps my study analyzed fifteen-minute accessibility to grocery stores in Scarborough, Ontario. Accessibility values using the car and public transit were determined using network analysis. After, the accessibility values were related to indicators of socioeconomic conditions using spatial regression. Fifteen-minute accessibility to grocery stores in Scarborough was much higher by car than by public transit. On average a resident of Scarborough could reach over sixty stores within fifteen minutes by car but only one store by transit. Accessibility was affected by median income. An increase in median income was associated with a decrease in accessibility. The negative relationship between income and accessibility indicated that lower-income residents had better accessibility to grocery stores than higher-income residents. The results showed that grocery store locations do not need to be modified but city planners should focus on addressing the public transportation system to improve accessibility.