Towards a generalized accessibility measure for transportation equity and efficiency

Abstract: Locational measures of accessibility are widely used in urban and transportation planning to understand the impact of the transportation system on influencing people's access to places. However, there is a considerable lack of measurement standards and publicly available data. We propose a generalized measure of locational accessibility that has a comprehensible form for transportation planning analysis. This metric combines the cumulative opportunities approach with gravity-based measures and is capable of catering to multiple trip purposes, travel modes, cost thresholds, and scales of analysis. Using data from multiple publicly available datasets, this metric is computed by trip purpose and travel time threshold for all block groups in the United States, and the data is made publicly accessible. Further, case studies of three large metropolitan areas reveal substantial inefficiencies in transportation infrastructure, with the most inefficiency observed in sprawling and non-core urban areas, especially for bicycling. Subsequently, it is shown that targeted investment in facilities can contribute to a more equitable distribution of accessibility to essential shopping and service facilities. By assigning greater weights to socioeconomically disadvantaged neighborhoods, the proposed metric formally incorporates equity considerations into transportation planning, contributing to a more equitable distribution of accessibility to essential services and facilities.