The Effects of Socio-economic and Transportation Accessibility

1 Land use and transportation can affect public health via the pathways of neighborhood 2 accessibility and physical activity levels. Health issues, like diabetes, represent a complex 3 interplay of nutrition, genetics, and environment. This work aimed to test if and how greater 4 transportation accessibility (measured by higher density, mixed land-use, and proximity to bike 5 lanes) is associated with diabetes risk. This work also assessed if residential self-selection plays a 6 significant role in deciphering this relationship. This work uses the diabetes count data at the 7 traffic analysis zone (TAZ) level and a handful of accessibility and socio-economic variables 8 (e.g., proximity to bike lanes, land-use balance, population density, land value, etc.) in Travis 9 County, Texas. 10 11 Results suggest that accessibility and socio-economic factors play an important role in 12 understanding diabetes prevalence. On average, forty-eight percent of multi-family dwelling 13 units are within a half mile distance from bike lanes in the county. Increasing housing that is 14 within a half mile of bike lanes at this average level could reduce diabetes rates by 0.7 percent. 15 This would then translate into a reduction of 70 diabetic adults for a TAZ with a 1,000 16 population. For a one percent rise in land-use balance, diabetes risk is estimated to decrease by 17 0.28 percent. Outputs also suggest that, to curb diabetes prevalence, emphasis should be placed 18 not only on enhancing accessibility, but also on narrowing the health disparities perhaps by 19 improving access to quality health care and raising awareness of healthful lifestyles for people 20 with lower socio-economic status. 21 22