Two-step Floating Catchment Area Research Articles

Towards Resilient Cities: Optimizing Shelter Site Selection and Disaster Prevention Life Circle Construction Using GIS and Supply-Demand Considerations

City health examinations are integral to China’s urban planning, construction, and management. They effectively identify potential risks and vulnerabilities in urban development, ensuring safety resilience—a critical component. This resilience enhances the city’s ability to withstand internal and external shocks, promoting the safety of urban residents and fostering sustainable city development. Drawing on the Japanese disaster prevention strategy, the disaster prevention life circle emerges as a rescue and protection system during urban disasters, fortifying urban safety resilience. However, smaller and mid-sized cities, constrained by limited resources, significantly need to catch up in disaster prevention planning. Consequently, bolstering safety resilience in these cities becomes a pressing concern. This study focuses on Lindian County in Heilongjiang Province as the urban area under consideration for resilient city objectives. Leveraging the ArcGIS network analysis tool, we optimize the placement of emergency shelters, aligning with urban disaster assessments and the equilibrium of disaster prevention facility supply and demand. Accessibility analysis of emergency shelters was conducted using the Gaussian two-step floating catchment area method. Ultimately, we integrate the range of demand points assigned to each shelter, along with the effective land area reflecting the supply of shelters, as weights into a weighted Voronoi diagram. This diagram is combined with a reference to the entire region to delineate the disaster prevention life circle. Findings reveal that, under the premise of minimizing government construction costs while maximizing coverage and evacuation utilization rates, the optimal resident emergency congregate shelters in the study area are 8, with 98 emergency evacuation and embarkation shelters. Striking a balance between disaster prevention facility supply and demand and regional accessibility, the urban area of Lindian County is segmented into 3 resident disaster prevention life circles and 24 emergency disaster prevention life circles. The objective of this study is to optimize shelter siting and establish disaster prevention life circles in diverse urban areas. This endeavor aims to bolster urban resilience and foster sustainable urban development.

Evaluating the impacts of supply-demand dynamics and distance decay effects on public transit project assessment: A study of healthcare accessibility and inequalities

Previous studies evaluating the impacts of transport interventions on accessibility to healthcare have largely overlooked competition among patients for limited resources and the tendency to use healthcare located closer to them (i.e., distance decay effects). This study aims to demonstrate how overlooking supply-demand dynamics and distance decay effects can distort the evaluation of a new public transit service's impacts on healthcare accessibility and inequalities. Specifically, using a new bus rapid transit (BRT) service in Columbus, Ohio, USA, as an example, we compare three types of measures: 1) cumulative-opportunity, 2) multimodal two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA), and 3) multimodal generalized 2SFCA (G2SFCA) accessibility metrics. To understand the similarities in results obtained from different accessibility measures, we use the Pearson correlation coefficients of standardized accessibility change scores. Further, we leverage an inequality index, the Palma ratios, to examine how inequality assessments can be sensitive to the choice of accessibility measure. The correlation analysis reveals notable differences among the three measures. This indicates that neglecting supply-demand dynamics and distance decay effects can lead to differences in results, potentially distorting transit project evaluations and misleading stakeholders. Moreover, although overall conclusions about inequalities are largely consistent, we observed nuanced and statistically significant differences in Palma ratios when derived from cumulative-opportunity metrics compared to the multimodal 2SFCA and multimodal generalized 2SFCA measures. Our findings underscore the importance of considering supply-demand dynamics and distance decay effects for a more realistic and accurate assessment of new transit service's impacts on healthcare accessibility and inequalities.

Spatial accessibility and equity of residential care facilities in Beijing from 2010 to 2020

In recent years, the aging population in Beijing has rapidly increased and the demand for residential care facilities (RCFs) has also risen. As RCFs have quickly developed, the question of whether residential care resources dynamically match the changes in the demand of the elderly population is an urgent issue that must be addressed. This study analyzes the spatiotemporal variation in the supply and demand of RCFs, applies a Gaussian two-step floating catchment area method with a multi-level search radius to measure the spatial accessibility of RCFs in Beijing in 2010 and 2020, and evaluates the equity of spatial accessibility. The results show that the elderly population was decentralized from the central urban area to New Urban Development Area. However, the distribution of RCF beds shows further agglomeration towards the central urban area. The accessibility of residential care resources in the central urban area and New Urban Development Area has increased, while accessibility in Ecological Protection Area has decreased. The spatial disparities in accessibility have been reduced and the spatial equity in accessibility has been improved over the past decade. The findings provide policy recommendations for the future allocation of RCFs by considering the spatiotemporal changes in the distribution of the supply and demand of residential care resources.

Assessment and Improvement of Emergency Rescue Service Accessibility under Urban Waterlogging Disasters

With the acceleration of urbanization and the impact of climate change, the frequent occurrence of urban waterlogging not only leads to road closures and traffic congestion but also severely affects the timeliness of urban emergency rescue. To accurately assess and enhance the response capability of urban emergency rescue under storm-induced waterlogging scenarios, a hydrodynamic model of urban waterlogging was developed to simulate waterlogging conditions under various design rainfall scenarios. By identifying road waterlogging risks and blocked roads, as well as combining the Two-Step Floating Catchment Area (2SFCA) method, the accessibility of emergency rescue services for points of interest (POIs) with different vulnerabilities was evaluated. The Liwan District of Guangzhou City was selected as a case study for accessibility impact assessment and improvement simulation. The results indicate that with the increase in the return period of rainfall, both the area and depth of waterlogged regions increased and the number of roads affected by waterlogging rose, leading to an increase in the length of blocked roads from 11 km to 49 km, an increase of over 300%. Additionally, the number of POIs inaccessible to emergency rescue increased, while the number of accessible POIs decreased, resulting in a significant downward trend in overall accessibility. By deploying mobile pumping vehicles, the depth and area of waterlogging under different rainfall return periods were reduced by over 10%, the number of blocked roads decreased by more than 10%, and the number of accessible POIs increased by more than 12%. The findings highlight that storm-induced waterlogging not only hinders traffic flow but also reduces the response capability of emergency rescue services. Through the strategic deployment of mobile pumping vehicles, the accessibility of urban emergency rescue services under waterlogging conditions can be effectively improved, mitigating the impact of waterlogging on urban functions and public safety.

Measuring urban thermal environment from accessibility-based perspective: A case study in a populous city

Understanding the spatial interaction among residents, cooling service, and heat risk area in complex urban areas is conducive to developing targeted management. However, traditional urban thermal environment assessments typically relied on simple linear integration of associated indicators, often neglecting the spatial interaction effect. To explore the spatial interaction among the three elements, this study proposes an accessibility-based urban thermal environment assessment framework. Using Zhengzhou, a rapidly urbanizing city, as an example, remotely sensed images from three periods (2010, 2015 and 2020) were applied to extract urban green space (UGS) and hot island area (HIA). An improved two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method and bivariate local Moran’s I were employed to explore whether residents’ clustering locations are more likely to access cooling service or to be exposed to heat risk. The results demonstrate that the UGS in the city has been expanding, whereas the HIA shrank within the inner city in 2015 and then increased in 2020. Even though the urban thermal environment may have improved in the last decade, the spatial interaction among the residents, cooling service and heat risk area could be exacerbated. Spatial autocorrelation shows an increase in locations that are disadvantageous for resident congregation. Even when sufficient cooling services were provided, residents in these areas could still be exposed to high heat risk. The developed urban thermal environment framework provides a novel insight into the residents’ heat risk exposure and cooling service accessibility, and the findings could assist urban planners in targeting the improvement of extra heat exposure risk locations.

Spatial Justice of Urban Park Green Space under Multiple Travel Modes and at Multiple Scales: A Case Study of Qingdao City Center, China

Improving the justice of public parks is of great significance to the well-being of residents, and it is also an important goal of green space planning. In this paper, the spatial justice of park green space under five travel modes and at three scales was analyzed using the travel-behavior-based Gaussian two-step floating catchment area method (TB-G2SFCA) and Gini coefficient method for Qingdao City Center. The main results are as follows: Under walking mode, walking–bus mode, and walking–subway mode, there were unserved areas in terms of urban park green space, while there were no unserved areas in the cases of cycling and driving. Residents’ choice of travel time and travel mode would affect the service scope of the park green space, and the increase in travel time would reduce the unserved areas in the urban park green space. The choice of travel time and travel mode affected the accessibility of urban park green space for residents in each residential patch, as well as the justice of the distribution of park green space resources at the scales of street blocks, districts, and the whole study area. The increase in residents’ travel speed and travel time could promote the equitable allocation of urban park green space to a certain extent. The results of this study provide a scientific basis for the planning and construction of urban park green space in Qingdao City.

Accessibility to ERCP-performing hospitals among patients with pancreatic cancer living in SEER regions.

The two most common interventions used to treat painless jaundice from pancreatic cancer are endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) and percutaneous transhepatic biliary drainage (PTBD). Our study aimed to characterize the geographic distribution of ERCP-performing hospitals among patients with pancreatic cancer in the United States and the association between geographic accessibility to ERCP-performing hospitals and biliary interventions patients receive. This is a retrospective cohort study using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER)-Medicare database for pancreatic cancer from 2005 to 2013. Multilevel models were used to examine the association between accessibility to ERCP hospitals within a 30- and 45-min drive from the patient's residential ZIP Code and the receipt of ERCP treatment. A two-step floating catchment area model was used to calculate the measure of accessibility based on the distribution across SEER regions. 7464 and 782 patients underwent ERCP and PTBD, respectively, over the study period. There were 808 hospitals in which 8246 patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in SEER regions from 2005 to 2013 received a procedure. Patients with high accessibility within both 30- and 45-min drive to an ERCP-performing hospital were more likely to receive an ERCP (30-min adjusted odds ratio [aOR]: 1.53, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.17-2.01; 45-min aOR: 1.31, 95% CI: 1.01-1.70). Furthermore, in the adjusted model, Black patients (vs. White) and patients with stage IV disease were less likely to receive ERCP than PTBD. Patients with pancreatic cancer and high accessibility to an ERCP-performing hospital were more likely to receive ERCP. Disparities in the receipt of ERCP persisted for Black patients regardless of their access to ERCP-performing hospitals.

Leveraging accessibility modeling to improve housing equity for low-income assisted renters: A case study in Bridgeport, Connecticut

The Housing Choice Voucher Program (HCVP) in the United States assists low-income households with a rent voucher to be redeemed in the private rental market. However, public housing authorities in certain states, such as Connecticut, may impose geographic restrictions that we coin as the “same-jurisdiction rule,” when implementing the HCVP. In practice, this constraint is translated to the requirement that assisted households must lease up within the same jurisdiction, which may eventually restrict access to high-quality housing or prevent relocation to higher-opportunity neighborhoods. To identify ways for policy improvement, we adopt the two-step floating catchment area method to evaluate the accessibility to HCVP-eligible housing in Bridgeport, Connecticut with and without the same-jurisdiction rule. The results indicate that when the geographic restrictions are lifted, there is a 9.23 % increase in median accessibility, and the increase is more significant in low-accessibility areas, which are often lower-opportunity neighborhoods. The results suggest that removing the same-jurisdiction rule can result in more housing options and thus improve housing equity for assisted renters. Since the HCVP and other rental assistance programs are spatial-driven, we call for establishing an operational workflow to corroborate the rigor of these programs to improve housing equity for low-income households.

Dynamic equity in urban amenities distribution: An accessibility-driven assessment

The continual challenges exist in attaining an equitable allocation of urban amenities. In order to render this objective attainable as well as practical in real-world scenarios, it is imperative to transition from a static conceptualization of equity to a dynamic notion of equity. To assess dynamic equity in the context of Dhaka, we collected data for two distinct time periods, 2005 and 2018, and calculated integrated accessibility indices using enhanced two-step floating catchment area method. We then responded to these questions: a) Has there been an increase in the level of accessibility? b) Is the changed accessibility being shared more equally or unequally? c) Do members of underprivileged groups enjoy greater access than members of privileged groups? d) Is the underprivileged population enjoying progressively increasing access over time? The results indicate the distribution of accessibility exhibits a pattern, wherein individuals belonging to the underprivileged group experience lower accessibility benefits, while individuals in the privileged group enjoy better accessibility. The sole reason for optimism regarding the distribution pattern lies in the narrowing of the accessibility gap between the privileged and underprivileged. Moreover, the accessibility distribution becomes more equal within the underprivileged group, while becoming more unequal within the privileged group.

Assessing urban park equity in Chaoyang District, Beijing using online review data

Urban parks are essential components of urban ecosystems, providing vital ecological resources for city residents. However, the rapid expansion of high-density urban areas has led to an unequal distribution of park resources, raising growing concerns about spatial equity. To address these challenges, we employed an improved Gaussian two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method, considering park quality variations and integrating sentiment scores from park reviews to calculate a comprehensive park accessibility index, accounting for both supply and demand dynamics among park users. The results demonstrate the significance of park management, as users prioritise convenience and cleanliness of public facilities. Recreational quality significantly influences park distribution equity, with areas near Beijing’s initial greenbelt zone showing improved accessibility (IA). Nonetheless, our analysis exposes disparities in urban park resource allocation within the Chaoyang District, indicating relative inequity. Spatial supply and demand mismatches, especially in the northwest and southeast, are evident. To enhance park layout equity, we recommend strategies like identifying and repurposing underused spaces, establishing pocket parks and micro-green areas, and improving recreational facilities. It is crucial to address the needs of vulnerable groups such as older residents and children. These insights stress the importance of ensuring fair urban park access to enhance the well-being of all city residents.

Impacts of sociodemographic factors, identities and neighbourhood safety on the relationship between urban green space and adolescent mental well-being: Findings from Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand

This study explored the relationship between green space accessibility (GSA) in residential area and adolescents’ mental well-being, and whether the relationship was moderated by sociodemographic factors (sex, ethnicity, neighbourhood deprivation), identities (gender and sexuality minority, disability) and perceived neighbourhood safety simultaneously. Data from 3813 adolescents who lived in Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland, Aotearoa New Zealand were obtained from the Youth19 Rangatahi Smart Survey. A Gaussian-based two-step floating catchment area method was employed to measure the spatial accessibility to green space at the neighbourhood level. The World Health Organization-5 Well-being Index was used to assess emotional well-being (EW), and the Reynolds Adolescent Depression Scale-short form was employed to measure depressive symptoms (DS). Through moderation analyses, results showed that perceived neighbourhood safety plays a vital role in the GSA – mental well-being association, with a negative trend in adolescents who reported being less safe in neighbourhoods. Adverse associations of GSA were found in gender and sexuality minority, disabled, Asian and Pacific adolescents, under the condition of not feeling safe in neighbourhoods all the time. The results showed marginalised adolescents tended to feel less safe in neighbourhoods, have lower EW and a higher level of DS. Additionally, the results from bivariate correlations showed there were inequalities in GSA for adolescents who lived in most deprived neighbourhoods and adolescents of Māori ethnicity. This study provides novel evidence of the importance of safe and inclusive green space for effectively promoting mental health and mitigating health inequalities of adolescents in urban areas.

Measuring multi-activities accessibility and equity with accessibility-oriented development strategies

Accessibility-oriented development (AOD) strategies are the extension of transit-oriented development (TOD) strategies but focus more on access to destinations. Adopting AOD strategies can help identify and improve the defects of imperfect TOD construction. Based on AOD strategies, this paper evaluated the comprehensive accessibility to multiple public facilities with the Gaussian-based two-step floating catchment area method (G2SFCA) in the heart area of Chengdu City and further analyzed its equity issues. The comprehensive accessibility analysis proved the efficiency of AOD-based analysis in public resources shortage area determination and TOD level evaluation. The equity analysis indicated that the improvement of equity could not reflect the progress on total accessibility but only rationalize the allocation structure of public resources. Based on the case study, several suggestions for policy-making are given, including the construction of the non-motorized transportation system, adjustment of supply allocation, and comprehensive consideration of equity and accessibility in urban planning.

Equity Evaluation of Elderly-Care Institutions Based on Ga2SFCA: The Case Study of Jinan, China

With the deepening trend of aging, the issue of elderly care for the aging population has become a matter of concern for all sectors of society. Elderly-care services have become increasingly vital. Elderly-care institutions, a major component of the elderly-care system, are an important part of public facility resource provision; the spatial distribution of elderly-care institutions (ECIs) directly affects the equitable access of the elderly to public resources. To cope with the current pressure of population aging and limited resources for the elderly, this study aims to explore the relationship between population aging and the supply of ECIs in Jinan, China. Using the ArcGIS platform, this study analyzes the spatial allocation of ECIs, provides improved supply capacity modelling of ECIs based on the Gaussian Two-Step Floating Catchment Area Approach (Ga2SFCA), and evaluates the equity of ECIs in terms of accessibility, supply–demand equity, and spatial equity. The results show that there are large differences in spatial accessibility between different levels of ECIs, there is a mismatch of supply and demand, the number and size of existing ECIs do not meet the needs of the elderly, and the distribution of resources in small ECIs is highly inequitable. These results can provide a guiding direction for optimizing ECIs and urban road network planning and can also provide new insights for urban planners to assess the equity of public service facilities.

Using an age-grouped Gaussian-based two-step floating catchment area method (AG2SFCA) to measure walking accessibility to urban parks: With an explicit focus on elderly

Rapid population aging has raised the number of elderly residents dramatically, calling out the challenge to provide elders with sufficient and equal urban park spaces in cities with limited land use. Ensuring elders have matched accessibility to urban parks is essential for social sustainability. This study introduces an age-grouped Gaussian-based two-step floating catchment area method (AG2SFCA) to more accurately reflect the urban park accessibility of the elderly and to explore the influence of population aging on residents' accessibility evolution. The applicability and rationality of AG2SFCA are demonstrated through the case study in the Chengdu city center. The results indicate that most elders' urban park accessibility and overall horizontal equity level are overestimated in the previous adjuted 2SFCA approach. There is no unified relationship between residents' accessibility and the population aging condition in their community. However, residents' accessibility is related to the overall aging level of society. Even in the urban core of Chengdu, many elders still have no access to urban parks. The high proximity can help elders maintain their matched accessibility to urban parks despite an aging population. This study enriches the application of 2SFCA-style models and helps provide empirical support to governments, urban planners, and facility operators for targeted decision-making.

Identification and analysis of spatial access disparities related to primary healthcare in Batna City, Algeria.

The issue of reducing spatial disparities is one of the most pressing concerns for policymakers and planners, which consider a crucial focus in planning and public service, especially accessibility to healthcare. Accessibility and proximity are the principal keys to providing good public service. Therefore, a healthcare system that meets the requirements of availability and affordability will be useless if spatial accessibility is not provided equally to all demands (population). Many technics and methods exist to quantify accessibility, including the two-step floating catchment area (2SFCA) method, its widely used to measure healthcare accessibility based on the travel distance threshold. This research paper aims to use the 2SFCA method to measure the spatial healthcare accessibility in Batna City because the 2SFCA method offers to measure accessibility on both spatial and functional levels. The spatial level will consider the threshold distances between the health demand (population) and the health provider location (healthcare facilities); moreover, functional accessibility is measured based on facility to population ratio that will give a better overview of Batna's healthcare provider. As a result, the optimal threshold distance that offers balanced results between the spatial accessibility score and other WHO ratios will be a distance between 1000- and 1500-meters travel distance. In addition, the central census districts have a higher access score than the rest of the city's districts; most census districts that do not have accessibility (12% of the population) to healthcare facilities are concentrated in the southwest of Batna city.

The relationship between green space accessibility by multiple travel modes and housing prices: A case study of Beijing

Green space accessibility affects housing prices, which is an issue that has been underappreciated. This paper takes Beijing's central urban area as an example. First, the Gaussian-based two-step floating catchment area (G2SFCA) method is used to measure four levels (community green space, subdistrict green space, district green space, and municipal green space) of green space accessibility by multiple travel modes (walking, cycling and driving). Second, the spatial error model (SEM) is used to examine the factors influencing housing prices. Finally, the geographically weighted regression (GWR) model is introduced to explore the spatial relationship between green space accessibility by walking, cycling and driving and housing prices. The results show the following: (1) The SEM shows that only driving accessibility has a positive spatial spillover effect on housing prices, indicating that the spatial inequity of local community green spaces by driving will exacerbate surrounding spatial inequity. (2) The GWR model shows that from the perspective of walking and driving accessibility, most areas within the Second Ring Road show spatial equity in green spaces, while cycling accessibility shows that the spatial inequity of green space exists only outside the Second Ring Road. (3) We find that municipal green space and subdistrict green space most affect the spatial equity of green spaces. Community green space, which is not open to the public, plays a minimal role. Regarding walking and driving accessibility, municipal green space increases the spatial equity of green spaces. In contrast, this type of green space can promote the spatial equity of green spaces regarding cycling accessibility. This study can significantly improve the quality of urban settlements in the Global South and has important implications for policy-makers, planners, and stakeholders in other large cities worldwide to create green and liveable cities.

Multiscale Analysis of Spatial Accessibility to Acute Hospitals in Carinthia, Austria

Health care accessibility studies are well established in the US but lacking in Austria, even though both experience high costs and have hospital care as the largest contributor to health care spending. This study aims to examine multiscale spatial accessibility to acute hospitals in Carinthia, Austria. Using the most recent data at census block and 250 meter grid levels, we refine proximity and generalized two-step floating catchment area (G2SFCA) methods while accounting for the modifiable areal unit problem (MAUP) and edge effects. For census blocks and 250 meter grids, the mean travel times to the nearest acute hospitals are 16 and 21 min, respectively, covering 58.8% and 76.2% of the population, which, however, increases to 25 and 31 min to the three nearest hospitals with similar populations. People bypassing the nearest hospital to seek hospitals at a longer distance, termed “bypass behavior”, is more influential, as 20% more of the population living in mountainous or rural areas need to travel 30 min longer. The G2SFCA method with a more pronounced distance decay results in a more decentralized polycentric structure of accessibility and identifies poorer access areas. While urban advantage is most evident in Klagenfurt and Villach, not all areas near hospitals enjoy the highest accessibility. A combination of the proximity and G2SFCA methods identifies less accessible areas. The MAUP overestimates accessibility at a coarse level and in less populous areas. Edge effects occur at the border when using proximity only, but they are more sensitive when considering bypass behavior or a weak distance decay effect. This study contributes to our understanding of acute hospitals’ accessibility in Carinthia and highlights the need to improve low-accessible areas in addition to universal health coverage. Cautions need to be exercised when using different geographic units or considering edge effects for health care planning and management.

Decisions & distance: The relationship between child care access and child care travel

Child care is essential infrastructure. Without child care—or without adequate access to child care—parents and household caregivers are unable to work or conduct other critical activities, which can adversely affect their outcomes. In the U.S., child care supply has long fallen short of demand, with variations across neighborhoods that differ by income, race, and ethnicity. Yet there is relatively little research on child care access, use, and travel. In this study, we test the relationship between formal child care supply and households' use of formal care and home-to-child-care travel distances in California. Using a two-step floating catchment area method, we develop a time-weighted spatial measure of child care access and apply this measure in statistical models to predict two outcome measures: the likelihood of making a home-to-child-care trip and travel distance to the child care center, controlling for other factors. We find that child care access is associated with an increased likelihood of using formal child care—and among households that use such care, access is associated with shorter travel distances. Our analysis underscores the importance of policies to address spatial barriers to child care, particularly in neighborhoods—low-income, Latinx, non-urban—where child care supply is limited.

Spatial Accessibility of Public Electric Vehicle Charging Services in China

Decarbonizing the transport sector using electric vehicles (EVs) is a vital pathway for China to achieve the carbon peak and carbon neutrality goals. Despite the unprecedented growth of EV diffusion in China, little information is available for the spatial accessibility of public electric vehicle charging services (EVCSs). This study developed an applicable accessibility measurement framework to examine the city-level accessibility of EVCSs in China using the Gaussian two-step floating catchment area (G2SFCA) method. G2SFCA takes the EV charging stations with charging piles as supply and the EV ownership data as demand. The results indicate that (1) the eastern region of China has the highest density of EV charging stations (69.1%), followed by the central region, while the western region has the lowest density; (2) the spatial accessibility of EVCSs has a different pattern, where the central region has the highest accessibility, followed by the eastern and western regions; (3) the spatial mismatch between EVCSs and EV diffusion in the eastern region is larger than that of the other two regions, which may be attributed to the suboptimal layout of EV charging stations and the inconsistent pace between EV penetration and EV charging station construction; and (4) there is a significant spatial inequity in the accessibility of EVCSs across both all three regions and the entirety of China, with the western region exhibiting the highest inequity, followed by the central and eastern regions. Based on these findings, policy implications are drawn for different regions in China, which may aid policymakers in crafting strategic policies and subsidy programs to foster the advancement of EVCSs.

Race, rurality and geographic accessibility to medication for opioid use disorder in the U.S.

ABSTRACT Disparities in geographic access to medication for opioid use disorder (OUD) are well documented. Further, historical implications of systemic racism and of the longstanding War on Drugs in the United States have driven both social and spatial inequities in access to treatment. This work builds on a previously published spatial access methodology that uses a gravity-based variant of the enhanced two-step floating catchment area model, to determine how OUD pharmacotherapy accessibility varies nationally at the census tract level. Medication for OUD (MOUD) accessibility scores are then analyzed by rurality and racial/ethnic segregation. The Getis-Ord Gi* statistic was used to identify clusters of high or low accessibility to MOUD, while the interaction index was used as a measure of segregation to assess the racial/ethnic population distribution. The results of the clustering statistic, and the associated significance values were then compared to rurality and interaction using the Chi-Square test to determine if hot or cold areas of access are independent of rurality and racial/ethnic spatial distributions. Lastly, the percentage of buprenorphine providers at capacity by census tract was calculated using the binary ‘at-capacity’ data attribute associated with each SAMHSA buprenorphine provider record. The results demonstrate distinct spatial variability of MOUD resources based on urbanicity and racial makeup that have significant implications for intervention or policy reform that seeks to encourage equal access to both treatment modalities.