Spatial, Temporal, and Transit Access to Emergency Food Providers

Abstract

This research brings together concerns of food environments, food insecurity, and food access to demonstrate four measures of access for an emergency food provider network. Based on the interacting concerns of accessibility and accommodation, the measures are proximity, segment coverage, transit access, and transit time. Proximity measures geographic access, whereas segment coverage focuses on access at different times of the day, on different days of the week, during different weeks of the month. The two transit measures use the region’s actual transit network scheduling to address space–time access via transit. The measures are applied to the food pantry network of Cuyahoga County, Ohio. Each demonstrates a unique nuance of access in the emergency food provider context, providing useful inputs into the process of meeting a community’s emergency food needs.