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• 21. [Article] Foodability

  The Portland Plan will consider current physical and socioeconomic conditions and trends and help establish shared visions, goals, and policies to guide the efforts of BPS and other city agencies over ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Foodability Author: Armstrong, Kim, Chastain, April, VanRheen, Stephanie, White, Steve, Chapin, Elizabeth, Person, Julia Year: 2009 The Portland Plan will consider current physical and socioeconomic conditions and trends and help establish shared visions, goals, and policies to guide the efforts of BPS and other city agencies over the next 20 years. BPS is interested in addressing food access issues in the Portland Plan, but does not have a defined, stakeholder-supported vision for food access. The Foodabilty project is developing a vision, goals, and strategy recommendations for food access in Portland that can be used to ground and direct future actions by the City and other organizations. It is supported by a set of maps displaying the contours of the City's current geographies of food accessibility. The final vision statement and evaluation criteria will be used to evaluate the goals for implementation that may be used to move Portland closer to its vision for food access. The final report will include a matrix evaluating the effectiveness and appropriateness of recommended strategies for BPS and other organizations. This project was conducted under the supervision of Sy Adler and Ethan Seltzer. Title: Foodability Author: Armstrong, Kim, Chastain, April, VanRheen, Stephanie, White, Steve, Chapin, Elizabeth, Person, Julia Year: 2009 The Portland Plan will consider current physical and socioeconomic conditions and trends and help establish shared visions, goals, and policies to guide the efforts of BPS and other city agencies over the next 20 years. BPS is interested in addressing food access issues in the Portland Plan, but does not have a defined, stakeholder-supported vision for food access. The Foodabilty project is developing a vision, goals, and strategy recommendations for food access in Portland that can be used to ground and direct future actions by the City and other organizations. It is supported by a set of maps displaying the contours of the City's current geographies of food accessibility. The final vision statement and evaluation criteria will be used to evaluate the goals for implementation that may be used to move Portland closer to its vision for food access. The final report will include a matrix evaluating the effectiveness and appropriateness of recommended strategies for BPS and other organizations. This project was conducted under the supervision of Sy Adler and Ethan Seltzer. Close

• 22. [Article] Talent on the Move: Migration Patterns of the Young and College-Educated in Pre and Post-Recession America – Migration Trends Across the Largest Southern Metros

  In 2012-2014, the South recorded the largest gain of YCE net in-migration, among its large metros, of any region at 138,000. What’s more, the only metros to post NMQ values above 30 were both in the South—Houston ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Talent on the Move: Migration Patterns of the Young and College-Educated in Pre and Post-Recession America – Migration Trends Across the Largest Southern Metros Author: Jurjevich, Jason R., Schrock, Greg, Kang, Jihye Year: 2016 In 2012-2014, the South recorded the largest gain of YCE net in-migration, among its large metros, of any region at 138,000. What’s more, the only metros to post NMQ values above 30 were both in the South—Houston (36.9 percent) followed by Austin (35 percent). While most large Southern metros posted robust gains in net in-migration of YCEs between the two periods, Louisville (-18.7 percent), Baltimore, (-9.4 percent), San Antonio (-8.2 percent), Dallas/Ft. Worth (-5.5 percent), and Tampa (-1.5 percent) all recorded NMQ declines in net in-migration of YCEs. Title: Talent on the Move: Migration Patterns of the Young and College-Educated in Pre and Post-Recession America – Migration Trends Across the Largest Southern Metros Author: Jurjevich, Jason R., Schrock, Greg, Kang, Jihye Year: 2016 In 2012-2014, the South recorded the largest gain of YCE net in-migration, among its large metros, of any region at 138,000. What’s more, the only metros to post NMQ values above 30 were both in the South—Houston (36.9 percent) followed by Austin (35 percent). While most large Southern metros posted robust gains in net in-migration of YCEs between the two periods, Louisville (-18.7 percent), Baltimore, (-9.4 percent), San Antonio (-8.2 percent), Dallas/Ft. Worth (-5.5 percent), and Tampa (-1.5 percent) all recorded NMQ declines in net in-migration of YCEs. Close

• 23. [Article] Talent on the Move: Migration Patterns of the Young and College-Educated in Pre and Post-Recession America – Migration Trends Across the Largest Northeastern Metros

  In the most recent period, 2012-2014, the Northeast’s largest metro areas attracted and retained roughly 31,000 YCE migrants. However, this represents 9,000 fewer migrants compared to the Great Recession ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Talent on the Move: Migration Patterns of the Young and College-Educated in Pre and Post-Recession America – Migration Trends Across the Largest Northeastern Metros Author: Jurjevich, Jason R., Schrock, Greg, Kang, Jihye Year: 2016 In the most recent period, 2012-2014, the Northeast’s largest metro areas attracted and retained roughly 31,000 YCE migrants. However, this represents 9,000 fewer migrants compared to the Great Recession period— the Northeast is the only region to post a decline in net in/migration of YCEs between 2008-2010 and 2012-2014. All Northeastern metros experienced a decline or a very marginal gain in NMQ values between the two periods, except for Philadelphia, which posted more than a 2,000 gain in net YCE in-migration. In the end however, Boston and Pittsburgh remain the region's two most productive cities for attracting retaining and retaining young, mobile talent. Title: Talent on the Move: Migration Patterns of the Young and College-Educated in Pre and Post-Recession America – Migration Trends Across the Largest Northeastern Metros Author: Jurjevich, Jason R., Schrock, Greg, Kang, Jihye Year: 2016 In the most recent period, 2012-2014, the Northeast’s largest metro areas attracted and retained roughly 31,000 YCE migrants. However, this represents 9,000 fewer migrants compared to the Great Recession period— the Northeast is the only region to post a decline in net in/migration of YCEs between 2008-2010 and 2012-2014. All Northeastern metros experienced a decline or a very marginal gain in NMQ values between the two periods, except for Philadelphia, which posted more than a 2,000 gain in net YCE in-migration. In the end however, Boston and Pittsburgh remain the region's two most productive cities for attracting retaining and retaining young, mobile talent. Close

• 24. [Article] Talent on the Move: Migration Patterns of the Young and College-Educated in Pre and Post-Recession America – Migration Trends Across the Largest Midwestern Metros

  In the most recent period, 2012-2014, the Midwest’s largest metro areas attracted and retained almost 37,000 YCE migrants, which is almost double the number during the Great Recession period. Although ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Talent on the Move: Migration Patterns of the Young and College-Educated in Pre and Post-Recession America – Migration Trends Across the Largest Midwestern Metros Author: Jurjevich, Jason R., Schrock, Greg, Kang, Jihye Year: 2016 In the most recent period, 2012-2014, the Midwest’s largest metro areas attracted and retained almost 37,000 YCE migrants, which is almost double the number during the Great Recession period. Although the region’s largest city, Chicago, recorded the largest net in/migration of YCEs (11,033) in 2012-2014, Kansas City recorded the highest NMQ of YCEs (18.6 percent), followed by Columbus, OH (18.5 percent) and Detroit (16.4 percent). Detroit’s turnaround is particularly noteworthy; the Motor City metro posted the second highest change in NMQ values between the two periods (second only to Birmingham). Two metros reported a net out/migration of YCEs, one being Buffalo (-14.5 percent), and the other being Milwaukee (-7.0 percent). Title: Talent on the Move: Migration Patterns of the Young and College-Educated in Pre and Post-Recession America – Migration Trends Across the Largest Midwestern Metros Author: Jurjevich, Jason R., Schrock, Greg, Kang, Jihye Year: 2016 In the most recent period, 2012-2014, the Midwest’s largest metro areas attracted and retained almost 37,000 YCE migrants, which is almost double the number during the Great Recession period. Although the region’s largest city, Chicago, recorded the largest net in/migration of YCEs (11,033) in 2012-2014, Kansas City recorded the highest NMQ of YCEs (18.6 percent), followed by Columbus, OH (18.5 percent) and Detroit (16.4 percent). Detroit’s turnaround is particularly noteworthy; the Motor City metro posted the second highest change in NMQ values between the two periods (second only to Birmingham). Two metros reported a net out/migration of YCEs, one being Buffalo (-14.5 percent), and the other being Milwaukee (-7.0 percent). Close

• 25. [Article] Annual Metro Regional Trail Count and Why Local Extrapolation Factors Matter

  Metro, Portland's regional governing agency, conducts annual two-hour counts along its regional trail every September. This upcoming fall (2017) will be the 10th year that the counts have been held, which ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Annual Metro Regional Trail Count and Why Local Extrapolation Factors Matter Author: Gibson, Geoff Year: 2017 Metro, Portland's regional governing agency, conducts annual two-hour counts along its regional trail every September. This upcoming fall (2017) will be the 10th year that the counts have been held, which means we at Metro can finally start seeing noticeable, long-lasting trends in the regional trail network. Perhaps more importantly, we are seeing how these data have directly impacted investments in future trail, bicycle, and pedestrian projects. This seminar will cover the history of the program, details of how it's conducted and why it's conducted that way, how data are used (including an inside look at future iterations of Metro's interactive trail count map), and why creating local extrapolation factors for adjusting to annual traffic is so important. Title: Annual Metro Regional Trail Count and Why Local Extrapolation Factors Matter Author: Gibson, Geoff Year: 2017 Metro, Portland's regional governing agency, conducts annual two-hour counts along its regional trail every September. This upcoming fall (2017) will be the 10th year that the counts have been held, which means we at Metro can finally start seeing noticeable, long-lasting trends in the regional trail network. Perhaps more importantly, we are seeing how these data have directly impacted investments in future trail, bicycle, and pedestrian projects. This seminar will cover the history of the program, details of how it's conducted and why it's conducted that way, how data are used (including an inside look at future iterations of Metro's interactive trail count map), and why creating local extrapolation factors for adjusting to annual traffic is so important. Close

• 26. [Article] Track Time and Monetary Costs of Transportation as a Comprehensive Performance Measure: Development and Application of Transportation Cost Index

  As federal and state policies place increasing emphasis on using comprehensive transportation performance measures to guide transportation decision making, there is a gap in such measures of transportation ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Track Time and Monetary Costs of Transportation as a Comprehensive Performance Measure: Development and Application of Transportation Cost Index Author: Wang, Liming Year: 2016 As federal and state policies place increasing emphasis on using comprehensive transportation performance measures to guide transportation decision making, there is a gap in such measures of transportation and land use systems. This seminar reports the results from a research project aiming to fill the gap in the type of applications and policy areas covered by existing measures. Modeled after the popular Consumer Price Index, the project refines and develops a transportation cost index (TCI) measure for transportation and land use systems by tracking the time and monetary costs of transportation for households as they travel to satisfy their daily needs. The TCI can be used in applications ranging from monitoring historical and projected trends (benchmarking), to evaluating and comparing scenarios outcomes (scenario evaluation), and it is capable of representing policy areas not sufficiently covered by existing similar measures. The seminar will review similar performance measures, describe the rationale, design and implementation of TCI, and present results of its applications in Portland and Corvallis, Oregon, as well as nation-wide in the US. The project is sponsored by National Institute of Transportation Communities (NITC) and Oregon DOT. Title: Track Time and Monetary Costs of Transportation as a Comprehensive Performance Measure: Development and Application of Transportation Cost Index Author: Wang, Liming Year: 2016 As federal and state policies place increasing emphasis on using comprehensive transportation performance measures to guide transportation decision making, there is a gap in such measures of transportation and land use systems. This seminar reports the results from a research project aiming to fill the gap in the type of applications and policy areas covered by existing measures. Modeled after the popular Consumer Price Index, the project refines and develops a transportation cost index (TCI) measure for transportation and land use systems by tracking the time and monetary costs of transportation for households as they travel to satisfy their daily needs. The TCI can be used in applications ranging from monitoring historical and projected trends (benchmarking), to evaluating and comparing scenarios outcomes (scenario evaluation), and it is capable of representing policy areas not sufficiently covered by existing similar measures. The seminar will review similar performance measures, describe the rationale, design and implementation of TCI, and present results of its applications in Portland and Corvallis, Oregon, as well as nation-wide in the US. The project is sponsored by National Institute of Transportation Communities (NITC) and Oregon DOT. Close

• 27. [Article] Is Portland Really the Place Where Young People Go To Retire? Migration Patterns of Portland’s Young and College-Educated, 1980-2010

  For many metro areas, including Portland, being economically competitive in today’s knowledge and information economy depends on attracting and retaining young, college-­‐educated (YCE) migrants. On this ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Is Portland Really the Place Where Young People Go To Retire? Migration Patterns of Portland’s Young and College-Educated, 1980-2010 Author: Jurjevich, Jason R., Schrock, Greg Year: 2012 For many metro areas, including Portland, being economically competitive in today’s knowledge and information economy depends on attracting and retaining young, college-­‐educated (YCE) migrants. On this indicator, Portland has been most successful: since 1980, the Portland metropolitan region has attracted college-­‐educated individuals under the age of 40 at some of the country’s highest net migration rates in good economic times and bad. Though not unique to Portland, the resiliency of Portland’s migration streams, even in periods of economic uncertainty, calls attention to an increasingly selective group of YCE migrants who appear to place greater relative value on non-­‐economic factors—from political milieu to access to quality public transportation—compared to employment opportunities. This trend directly challenges a long-­‐established cornerstone of traditional migration theory suggesting that the decision to move is predicated on benefits exceeding costs, and linked to the importance of jobs and economic opportunity as attractive forces for working-­‐age households. Reading between the lines of recent media accounts, and in particular the television show Portlandia, the shift from economic to non-­‐economic factors has been portrayed in a most interesting way: because young migrants to Portland place relatively low value on work and traditional careers, their desire to exchange employment opportunities for quality of life (amenity) factors indeed makes Portland the city “where young people go to retire.” The question is: in the short and long-­‐term, how sustainable is Portland’s trend of attracting and retaining YCE migrants if labor market outcomes continue to remain worse compared to other metro areas? What are the facts? In this paper we draw upon U.S. Census Bureau data from the 2000 Census and more recent American Community Surveys from 2005-­‐2007 and 2008-­‐2010, to compare migration patterns in Portland to the other 50 largest U.S. metros. Title: Is Portland Really the Place Where Young People Go To Retire? Migration Patterns of Portland’s Young and College-Educated, 1980-2010 Author: Jurjevich, Jason R., Schrock, Greg Year: 2012 For many metro areas, including Portland, being economically competitive in today’s knowledge and information economy depends on attracting and retaining young, college-­‐educated (YCE) migrants. On this indicator, Portland has been most successful: since 1980, the Portland metropolitan region has attracted college-­‐educated individuals under the age of 40 at some of the country’s highest net migration rates in good economic times and bad. Though not unique to Portland, the resiliency of Portland’s migration streams, even in periods of economic uncertainty, calls attention to an increasingly selective group of YCE migrants who appear to place greater relative value on non-­‐economic factors—from political milieu to access to quality public transportation—compared to employment opportunities. This trend directly challenges a long-­‐established cornerstone of traditional migration theory suggesting that the decision to move is predicated on benefits exceeding costs, and linked to the importance of jobs and economic opportunity as attractive forces for working-­‐age households. Reading between the lines of recent media accounts, and in particular the television show Portlandia, the shift from economic to non-­‐economic factors has been portrayed in a most interesting way: because young migrants to Portland place relatively low value on work and traditional careers, their desire to exchange employment opportunities for quality of life (amenity) factors indeed makes Portland the city “where young people go to retire.” The question is: in the short and long-­‐term, how sustainable is Portland’s trend of attracting and retaining YCE migrants if labor market outcomes continue to remain worse compared to other metro areas? What are the facts? In this paper we draw upon U.S. Census Bureau data from the 2000 Census and more recent American Community Surveys from 2005-­‐2007 and 2008-­‐2010, to compare migration patterns in Portland to the other 50 largest U.S. metros. Close

• 28. [Article] Safety Effectiveness of Pedestrian Crossing Enhancements

  Over the last decade, the Oregon DOT and other agencies have systematically implemented many pedestrian crossing enhancements (PCEs) across the state. This study explored the safety performance of these ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Safety Effectiveness of Pedestrian Crossing Enhancements Author: Monsere, Christopher M., Figliozzi, Miguel, Kothuri, Sirisha, Razmpa, Ali, Hazel, Daniel R. Year: 2016 Over the last decade, the Oregon DOT and other agencies have systematically implemented many pedestrian crossing enhancements (PCEs) across the state. This study explored the safety performance of these enhanced crossing in Oregon. Detailed data were collected on 191 crossings. Supplemental data items included crossing location information, route characteristics, surrounding land use and crossing enhancement descriptions. Pedestrian volume at the crossing locations was a highly desirable but unavailable data element. To characterize pedestrian activity, a method was developed to estimate ranges for pedestrian crosswalk activity levels based on the land use classification at the census block level and the presence of pedestrian traffic generators such as bus stops, schools, shopping centers and hospitals within a 0.25-mile radius. Each crosswalk was categorized into one of six levels of activity – very low, low, medium-low, medium, medium-high and high. Crash data for the 2007-2014 period were assembled for the safety analysis. After filtering, 62 pedestrian crashes and 746 rear-end crashes were retained for further analysis. The crash data were merged and analyzed. Crash patterns and risk ratios were explored. The most important trend observed was a shift (reduction) in the pedestrian crash severity after the installation of the crosswalk treatments. This shift was from fatal and injury A crash type to lower severity crashes of injury B and injury C. For pedestrian crashes, increases in the risk ratio were observed for increases in the number of lanes, the posted speed, and estimated pedestrian activity level. Similar trends were observed for rear-end crashes. Due to data limitations, subsequent safety analysis focused on installations of RRFB crossing enhancements. A CMF for RRFB installations was estimated. The CMFS for pedestrian crashes are 0.64 +/- 0.26 using a simple before-after analysis; for rear-end crashes: 0.93 +/- 0.22 using an empirical Bayes analysis approach. Title: Safety Effectiveness of Pedestrian Crossing Enhancements Author: Monsere, Christopher M., Figliozzi, Miguel, Kothuri, Sirisha, Razmpa, Ali, Hazel, Daniel R. Year: 2016 Over the last decade, the Oregon DOT and other agencies have systematically implemented many pedestrian crossing enhancements (PCEs) across the state. This study explored the safety performance of these enhanced crossing in Oregon. Detailed data were collected on 191 crossings. Supplemental data items included crossing location information, route characteristics, surrounding land use and crossing enhancement descriptions. Pedestrian volume at the crossing locations was a highly desirable but unavailable data element. To characterize pedestrian activity, a method was developed to estimate ranges for pedestrian crosswalk activity levels based on the land use classification at the census block level and the presence of pedestrian traffic generators such as bus stops, schools, shopping centers and hospitals within a 0.25-mile radius. Each crosswalk was categorized into one of six levels of activity – very low, low, medium-low, medium, medium-high and high. Crash data for the 2007-2014 period were assembled for the safety analysis. After filtering, 62 pedestrian crashes and 746 rear-end crashes were retained for further analysis. The crash data were merged and analyzed. Crash patterns and risk ratios were explored. The most important trend observed was a shift (reduction) in the pedestrian crash severity after the installation of the crosswalk treatments. This shift was from fatal and injury A crash type to lower severity crashes of injury B and injury C. For pedestrian crashes, increases in the risk ratio were observed for increases in the number of lanes, the posted speed, and estimated pedestrian activity level. Similar trends were observed for rear-end crashes. Due to data limitations, subsequent safety analysis focused on installations of RRFB crossing enhancements. A CMF for RRFB installations was estimated. The CMFS for pedestrian crashes are 0.64 +/- 0.26 using a simple before-after analysis; for rear-end crashes: 0.93 +/- 0.22 using an empirical Bayes analysis approach. Close

• 29. [Article] Green Mind Gray Yard: Micro Scale Assessment of Ecosystem Services

  There is a spatial mismatch between the size of the area where people are living and the extent of land needed to ecologically support developed areas. More people are living in urban areas than any time ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Green Mind Gray Yard: Micro Scale Assessment of Ecosystem Services Author: Kirkpatrick, Erin Jolene Year: 2013 There is a spatial mismatch between the size of the area where people are living and the extent of land needed to ecologically support developed areas. More people are living in urban areas than any time in history, and the resources need to support cities have had to expand to try and meet the demands of increasing urban populations. However, areas of opportunity exist for urban areas to begin to positively contribute towards the available resources in a region. Because a large portion of urban areas is within private control, gaining a baseline understanding of how residents interact with ecosystem services served as basis of this study. Using a survey of residents in the Portland, OR area, correlations between demographic groups and questions regarding their beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors as they relate to vegetation proved that the knowledge of environmental relationships is an important first step in creating pro-environmental behavior. Those reporting a high level of knowledge for ecological system and processes were more likely to value the benefits of vegetation for other associated reasons, such as for recreational activities, aesthetic purposes, and air or water quality. Additionally, survey responses were mapped to spatial data to gain an understanding of the spatial characteristics of neighborhoods in the survey area and how they have changed over time. Overall, the results in the study display trends that can help outreach organizations and municipalities to determine plans to strategically engage the public in a way that could create a net gain in urban ecosystem services. Title: Green Mind Gray Yard: Micro Scale Assessment of Ecosystem Services Author: Kirkpatrick, Erin Jolene Year: 2013 There is a spatial mismatch between the size of the area where people are living and the extent of land needed to ecologically support developed areas. More people are living in urban areas than any time in history, and the resources need to support cities have had to expand to try and meet the demands of increasing urban populations. However, areas of opportunity exist for urban areas to begin to positively contribute towards the available resources in a region. Because a large portion of urban areas is within private control, gaining a baseline understanding of how residents interact with ecosystem services served as basis of this study. Using a survey of residents in the Portland, OR area, correlations between demographic groups and questions regarding their beliefs, attitudes, and behaviors as they relate to vegetation proved that the knowledge of environmental relationships is an important first step in creating pro-environmental behavior. Those reporting a high level of knowledge for ecological system and processes were more likely to value the benefits of vegetation for other associated reasons, such as for recreational activities, aesthetic purposes, and air or water quality. Additionally, survey responses were mapped to spatial data to gain an understanding of the spatial characteristics of neighborhoods in the survey area and how they have changed over time. Overall, the results in the study display trends that can help outreach organizations and municipalities to determine plans to strategically engage the public in a way that could create a net gain in urban ecosystem services. Close

• 30. [Article] Travel to Food: Transportation Barriers for the Food Insecure in Tampa Bay

  In partnership with the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) at the University of South Florida (USF), the Transportation Innovation Group informed practical transportation solutions aimed at ...

  Citation × Citation Citation Abstract Copy Title: Travel to Food: Transportation Barriers for the Food Insecure in Tampa Bay Author: Salzer, Kevin, Joslin, Ann Year: 2017 In partnership with the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) at the University of South Florida (USF), the Transportation Innovation Group informed practical transportation solutions aimed at improved food access in Tampa Bay (Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties). The food pantry/bank sites that are part of Tampa Bay Network to End Hunger (TBNTEH) helped to gather data through a survey and interviews of food-related organizational leadership, staff and volunteers from each site to gain insight into how clients currently access emergency food sites (qualitative). This information was supplemented with a GIS analysis of transit accessibility for the food insecure in Tampa Bay (quantitative). Funding for this project was provided, in part, by the National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) at Portland State University. This project entitled “Travel to Food: Transportation Barriers for the Food Insecure in Tampa Bay” fits with the NITC’s theme of safe, healthy and sustainable transportation choices to foster livable communities in the following ways: Identify gaps in the transportation system for vulnerable communities; Lead to focused solutions to improve access to healthy food; Lead to added sustainable transportation options; and Access to food is an essential precursor to livability. Background: The dominance of the automobile in the southeast has impacted the urban and suburban built environment, resulting in barriers to transportation access. The vulnerability of the food insecure makes them an indicator population of the larger transportation system; mobility and housing location options are limited for this population. The grocery industry’s trend toward larger stores and higher-value inventory to maximize shelf space value has left lower-income neighborhoods with fewer food retail options. The lack of food access is experienced more acutely in lower-income neighborhoods where auto ownership is lower and dependence on alternative modes of transportation (e.g., transit, bike and walking) is higher. Title: Travel to Food: Transportation Barriers for the Food Insecure in Tampa Bay Author: Salzer, Kevin, Joslin, Ann Year: 2017 In partnership with the Center for Urban Transportation Research (CUTR) at the University of South Florida (USF), the Transportation Innovation Group informed practical transportation solutions aimed at improved food access in Tampa Bay (Hillsborough, Pinellas and Pasco counties). The food pantry/bank sites that are part of Tampa Bay Network to End Hunger (TBNTEH) helped to gather data through a survey and interviews of food-related organizational leadership, staff and volunteers from each site to gain insight into how clients currently access emergency food sites (qualitative). This information was supplemented with a GIS analysis of transit accessibility for the food insecure in Tampa Bay (quantitative). Funding for this project was provided, in part, by the National Institute for Transportation and Communities (NITC) at Portland State University. This project entitled “Travel to Food: Transportation Barriers for the Food Insecure in Tampa Bay” fits with the NITC’s theme of safe, healthy and sustainable transportation choices to foster livable communities in the following ways: Identify gaps in the transportation system for vulnerable communities; Lead to focused solutions to improve access to healthy food; Lead to added sustainable transportation options; and Access to food is an essential precursor to livability. Background: The dominance of the automobile in the southeast has impacted the urban and suburban built environment, resulting in barriers to transportation access. The vulnerability of the food insecure makes them an indicator population of the larger transportation system; mobility and housing location options are limited for this population. The grocery industry’s trend toward larger stores and higher-value inventory to maximize shelf space value has left lower-income neighborhoods with fewer food retail options. The lack of food access is experienced more acutely in lower-income neighborhoods where auto ownership is lower and dependence on alternative modes of transportation (e.g., transit, bike and walking) is higher. Close