Transit to parks: An environmental justice study of transit access to large parks in the U.S. West

Abstract

Large parks—including regional parks, state parks, and national forests and parks—have particular health, social, and environmental benefits. Thus, promoting equal access to large parks is increasingly becoming a goal of environmental justice activists, planners, and policymakers. Disadvantaged populations (e.g., low-income people of color) have worse walking access to large parks than more privileged groups and might rely on public transportation to access such parks. But empirical studies on whether access to large parks via public transit is justly distributed are lacking. In this paper, we examine the relationship between a novel measure of public transit access to large parks (the T2P index) and neighborhood-level disadvantage (income, race/ethnicity, and age). Using network analysis with public transit feed data and park location data, we calculate the T2P index for every census block group in the 15 largest metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in the U.S. West. We find some evidence of environmental injustice. A spatial filtering model shows that T2P access increases when a neighborhood has a larger share of non-Hispanic Whites and a smaller share of older adults, but that median household income is not associated with T2P in the entire sample. We also find that some regions present significant environmental injustices in T2P whereas others have fewer to no injustices. Transit agencies and park planners could use our T2P index and findings to prioritize transit investment for disadvantaged populations and promote healthy living.