A Transit-based Model Integrating Spatial and Nonspatial Factors to Measure Healthcare Accessibility

Keywords: spatial accessibility, older people, transport, spatial inequality
Abstract Type: Paper Abstract

Abstract

Medical facilities play an essential role to ensure life quality and improve social welfare, especially in the context of an aging society. In recent years, healthcare accessibility for the elderly using public transit (PT) in urban areas has become an emerging field in academic research, which focuses on socioeconomic statuses as well as other nonspatial factors that may be contributed to spatial inequalities and disparities in accessing medical facilities. However, previous studies mainly focus on transit-based accessibility without considering those factors such as resource need, economic weakness, and cultural weakness. In this research, we aim to examine the time-varying accessibility to healthcare services and identify areas with spatial inequity in Taipei, Taiwan. We proposed the enhance multi-modal two-step floating catchment area method, which nonspatial factors were considered when calculating spatial accessibility. Furthermore, a new approach that replaces the traditional road network with third-party web APIs (application programming interface) to calculate travel time in real-time was carried out to identify time-varying underserved areas and assess the extent of spatial inequity between regions. We believe our approach can provide quantitative and insightful evidence for government and transport planners to make better strategies and promote a more age-friendly society.