MEASURING TRANSPORTATION ACCESSIBILITY FOR THE HOMELESS POPULATIONS IN GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA USING NETWORK ANALYST By KAYSIE SALVATORE A THESIS PRESENTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF URBAN AND REGIONAL PLANNING UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA 2017 © 2017 Kaysie Salvatore To my loving family, boyfriend, and all the homeless individuals currently struggling to survive. Just know, most of us see you and are fighting for you. Keep on keeping on. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I thank Jon DeCarmine, the Operations Director of GRACE Marketplace, for making this study possible and for being the voice of the homeless in Gainesville. I would also like to thank Dr. Ruth Steiner for her contribution to my study as well as for supporting me and pushing me to reach my true potential. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .................................................................................................. 4 LIST OF TABLES ............................................................................................................ 7 LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................................................................... 8 ABSTRACT ..................................................................................................................... 9 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................... 11 2 LITERATURE REVIEW .......................................................................................... 14 2.1 Dimensions of Homelessness ........................................................................... 14 2.1.1 Housing Dimension ................................................................................. 14 2.1.2 Temporal Dimension ............................................................................... 14 2.1.3 Working Dimension ................................................................................. 15 2.1.4 Veterans and Disability Dimension .......................................................... 17 2.2 Homeless and Transportation Disparities ......................................................... 18 2.3 Transportation as a Civil Right .......................................................................... 24 3 STUDY AREA AND DATA COLLECTION .............................................................. 27 3.1 Study Area ........................................................................................................ 27 3.1.1 Selection Process .................................................................................... 27 3.1.2 Demographic Data................................................................................... 30 3.2 Data Collection and Preprocessing ................................................................... 33 4 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................... 38 4.1 Travel Data Collection ....................................................................................... 38 4.1.1 Interviews ................................................................................................ 39 4.1.2 Homeless Questionnaire ......................................................................... 39 4.2 Network Analysis .............................................................................................. 40 5 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION ............................................................................... 51 5.1 Results .............................................................................................................. 51 5.1.1 Questionnaire Statistics ........................................................................... 51 5.1.2 Network Analyst Analysis ........................................................................ 52 5.1.3 Creation of a New Route ......................................................................... 54 5.2 Discussion ........................................................................................................ 55 5.2.1 Questionnaire Responses ....................................................................... 55 5 5.2.2 Travel Statistics ....................................................................................... 57 5.2.3 Network Analyst Analysis ........................................................................ 58 5.2.4 Creation of a New Route ......................................................................... 59 6 LIMITATIONS AND CONCLUSION ........................................................................ 69 6.1 Limitations ......................................................................................................... 69 6.2 Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 72 APPENDIX A INTERVIEW QUESTIONS ..................................................................................... 74 B HOMELESS TRAVEL QUESTIONNAIRE .............................................................. 76 LIST OF REFERENCES ............................................................................................... 78 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH ............................................................................................ 82 6 LIST OF TABLES Table page 3-1 Organizations Contacted for Interviews .............................................................. 35 4-1 Travel Destinations as Determined by the Homeless Questionnaire .................. 46 5-1 Travel Time Given in Minutes and Seconds ....................................................... 62 5-2 Destinations within 0.5 Miles of the Suggested Bus Stop ................................... 64 7 LIST OF FIGURES Figure page 3-1 Study Area .......................................................................................................... 36 3-2 GRACE Marketplace Boundary & Bus Routes ................................................... 37 4-1 Methodological Design ....................................................................................... 48 4-2 Alachua County Roads Network Dataset ........................................................... 49 4-3 City of Gainesville Bus Network Dataset ............................................................ 50 5-1 Homeless Questionnaire Statistics ..................................................................... 66 5-2 Alachua County Jail Shortest Path Example ...................................................... 67 5-3 Suggested Bus Route ......................................................................................... 68 8 Abstract of Thesis Presented to the Graduate School of the University of Florida in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Urban and Regional Planning MEASURING TRANSPORTATION ACCESSIBILITY FOR THE HOMELESS POPULATIONS IN GAINESVILLE, FLORIDA USING NETWORK ANALYST By Kaysie Salvatore December 2017 Chair: Ruth L. Steiner Cochair: Paul Zwick Major: Urban and Regional Planning Despite the importance placed on mobility in the US, the ability to move does not benefit all populations equally. The homeless population has been found to be the most negatively impacted in regards to transportation accessibility given their low economic standing. Research shows that providing transportation services and programs to the homeless would not only increase their mobility, but also their access to jobs and services. This paper intends to supplement current research on transportation accessibility for the homeless by providing a spatial analysis of transportation disparities in populations with access to public transit. Using research interviews and questionnaires, this study answers the questions of where and how the homeless are traveling. Additionally, The Esri Network Analyst extension is used to map how the homeless travel and compares it to other modes of travel. Lastly, this study uses the questionnaire and spatial analysis to determine where any disparities might be occurring in the current transit system and provides recommendations of route updates to better service the homeless population in Gainesville, Florida. 9 The questionnaire found that an overwhelming majority of the homeless population in Gainesville travel using bus. The network analysis found that travel by car was the fastest and most efficient, while traveling by bus took on average eight minutes longer when excluding transfer wait times and twenty minutes longer when including transfer wait times. Based on the data collected, two bus routes servicing GRACE Marketplace were updated to reflect realistic travel patterns of the homeless. 10 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION According to the US Department of Transportation (US DOT), “transportation plays a critical role in the lives of all Americans, especially those who may be homeless or at risk of experiencing homelessness” (US Department of Transportation, np, 2016). The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Consumer Expenditure Survey, further quantifies the importance of transportation by reporting that households spent an average of $9,073 on transportation in 2014; the second largest household expenditure behind housing (Bureau of Transportation Statistics, pg 71, 2016). Despite the importance placed on mobility in the United States, the ability to move does not benefit all populations equally. In 2016, BLS reported that low- and moderate-income households spent