Thesis Format
Integrated Article
Degree
Master of Science
Program
Geography and Environment
Supervisor
Lee, Jinhyung
Abstract
Poor healthcare accessibility can lead to adverse health outcomes, particularly for socially disadvantaged populations, intensifying social and health disparities within urban areas. As cities worldwide introduce new public transit services to enhance healthcare accessibility and reduce inequality, the robust and scientific evaluation of these interventions becomes essential. However, transportation research often overlooks key factors such as supply-demand dynamics, distance decay, and travel time uncertainty when evaluating the impacts of transit innovations on healthcare accessibility and inequality. This oversight can misrepresent the impacts of new transit services on healthcare accessibility and inequalities, distort transit project appraisals, and mislead stakeholders such as planners and policymakers. To facilitate a more realistic and rigorous evaluation of transit projects, I undertake two studies in this thesis. The first study outlines methods for evaluating the impacts of new transit services on healthcare accessibility and inequality by considering supply-demand dynamics and distance decay effects. It also explores whether and how neglecting the supply-demand interactions and distance decay can lead to erroneous evaluation outcomes. Results reveal that ignoring supply-demand dynamics and distance decay effects can distort transit project evaluations and mislead stakeholders. In the second study, I introduce an easy-to-use framework for assessing the impacts of new transit systems on healthcare accessibility and its inequality by incorporating the effects of travel time uncertainty issues such as delays using real-time transit big data. Results demonstrate that overlooking travel time uncertainty can overestimate healthcare accessibility while underestimating the benefits of new transit services in alleviating inequality. This thesis contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the impacts of new transit services on accessibility and inequality. It advocates for more scientific transit planning and provides valuable insights for urban transportation researchers and practitioners aiming to improve healthcare accessibility and reduce urban inequalities through transit interventions.
Summary for Lay Audience
Accessibility to healthcare is vital for maintaining good health, but many people, particularly those from disadvantaged backgrounds, face significant challenges in accessing these services. One major barrier is inadequate public transportation, which makes it difficult for individuals to reach healthcare facilities. To enhance citizens’ healthcare accessibility and promote social justice in healthcare accessibility, many cities worldwide have started to launch new transit services. This thesis investigates whether and how these new public transportation services improve accessibility to healthcare and reduce inequalities. Traditional methods of measuring healthcare accessibility and evaluating transit services often overlook key factors such as the competition for limited healthcare resources (like doctors and hospital beds) and the natural preference for closer healthcare options. These methods can lead to inaccurate assessments of how effective new transit services are in improving accessibility to healthcare and alleviating inequalities. To address these issues, this thesis presents a more advanced and realistic framework for measuring healthcare accessibility. The accessibility measure used in this thesis considers both the supply and demand for healthcare services and the impact of distance on people’s choices. By considering these factors, our approach provides a more accurate picture of how new public transit services affect healthcare accessibility and inequalities. Additionally, this research incorporates real-time data about public transportation services. Traditional assessments often assume that public transit always runs on schedule, but delays and other factors frequently cause disruptions. By using real-time data and accounting for uncertainties in transit travel time, this thesis offers a more practical and realistic evaluation of public transit services, showing how these services actually operate and their actual impact on healthcare accessibility and inequalities. The findings of this thesis are especially relevant for city planners and policymakers. They provide valuable insights into how public transportation can be designed and implemented to better serve all community members, particularly those most in need. This research ensures that evaluations of new transit services accurately capture their impact on accessibility and social inequality, supporting more informed decision-making in transit planning. Using these methods, cities can make better decisions about where to invest in public transit infrastructure, ensuring that healthcare services are accessible to everyone and reducing social and health inequalities. Overall, this research shows that thoughtful and well-planned public transportation systems are essential for improving healthcare accessibility and reducing inequalities. The methods and insights presented in this thesis can help guide future transportation projects, making cities healthier and more equitable places to live.
Recommended Citation
Javanmard, Reyhane, "Towards a More Realistic Evaluation of New Public Transit Services' Impacts on Healthcare Accessibility and Inequality" (2024). Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository. 10239.
https://ir.lib.uwo.ca/etd/10239