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1. Assessing trauma center accessibility in the Southeastern region of the U.S. to improve healthcare efficacy using an anti-covering approach

   https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgph.0002230  

   Chea, Heewon; Kim, Hyun (August 2023, PLOS Global Public Health)

   Jhunjhunwala, Rashi (Ed.)

   Accessibility to trauma centers is vital for the patients of severe motor vehicle crashes. Many vehicle crash fatalities failed to reach the proper emergency medical services since the accident location was far away from trauma centers. The spatial discordance between the service coverage area of trauma centers and actual locations of motor vehicle accidents delays the definitive medical care and results in death or disability. Many fatalities would have been prevented if the patients had a chance to get proper treatment in time at Southeastern region of the U.S. Also, the accessibility to trauma centers from the actual locations of motor vehicle accidents is different in the Southeastern region. This research aimed to facilitate the accessibility to trauma centers for severe motor vehicle crash patients in the Southeastern region. The analyses are conducted to assess current trauma center accessibility and suggest the optimal locations of future trauma centers using the Anti-covering location model for trauma centers (TraCtmodel). This study found that existing trauma centers failed to serve many demands, and the actual coverages of the current locations of trauma centers over potential demands are highly different in each Southeastern state.TraCtmodel is applied to each Southeastern state, and its solutions provide better coverage for demand locations. However, theTraCtmodel for each state tends to choose too many facilities, with excessively supplied facilities across the Southeastern region. The excessive service supply issue is addressed by applying theTraCtModel to a broader spatial extent.TraCtmodel applied to the entire Southeastern region and most of the demand, over 98% covered by the service coverage of optimal facility locations with 15 additional facilities. This research proves that the GIS andTraCtmodel applied to the broader spatial extent works well with increasing trauma medical service beneficiaries while providing a minimum number of additional facilities. 

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2. Differences between gridded population data impact measures of geographic access to healthcare in sub-Saharan Africa

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s43856-022-00179-4  

   Hierink, Fleur; Boo, Gianluca; Macharia, Peter M.; Ouma, Paul O.; Timoner, Pablo; Levy, Marc; Tschirhart, Kevin; Leyk, Stefan; Oliphant, Nicholas; Tatem, Andrew J.; et al (December 2022, Communications Medicine)

   Abstract Background Access to healthcare is imperative to health equity and well-being. Geographic access to healthcare can be modeled using spatial datasets on local context, together with the distribution of existing health facilities and populations. Several population datasets are currently available, but their impact on accessibility analyses is unknown. In this study, we model the geographic accessibility of public health facilities at 100-meter resolution in sub-Saharan Africa and evaluate six of the most popular gridded population datasets for their impact on coverage statistics at different administrative levels. Methods Travel time to nearest health facilities was calculated by overlaying health facility coordinates on top of a friction raster accounting for roads, landcover, and physical barriers. We then intersected six different gridded population datasets with our travel time estimates to determine accessibility coverages within various travel time thresholds (i.e., 30, 60, 90, 120, 150, and 180-min). Results Here we show that differences in accessibility coverage can exceed 70% at the sub-national level, based on a one-hour travel time threshold. The differences are most notable in large and sparsely populated administrative units and dramatically shape patterns of healthcare accessibility at national and sub-national levels. Conclusions The results of this study show how valuable and critical a comparative analysis between population datasets is for the derivation of coverage statistics that inform local policies and monitor global targets. Large differences exist between the datasets and the results underscore an essential source of uncertainty in accessibility analyses that should be systematically assessed. 

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3. Equality of access and resilience in urban population-facility networks

   https://doi.org/10.1038/s42949-022-00051-3  

   Fan, Chao; Jiang, Xiangqi; Lee, Ronald; Mostafavi, Ali (March 2022, npj Urban Sustainability)

   Abstract While conceptual definitions have provided a foundation for measuring inequality of access and resilience in urban facilities, the challenge for researchers and practitioners alike has been to develop analytical support for urban system development that reduces inequality and improves resilience. Using 30 million large-scale anonymized smartphone-location data, here, we calibrate models to optimize the distribution of facilities and present insights into the interplay between equality and resilience in the development of urban facilities. Results from ten metropolitan counties in the United States reveal that inequality of access to facilities is due to the inconsistency between population and facility distributions, which can be reduced by minimizing total travel costs for urban populations. Resilience increases with more equitable facility distribution by increasing effective embeddedness ranging from 10% to 30% for different facilities and counties. The results imply that resilience and equality are related and should be considered jointly in urban system development. 

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4. Investigating the Factors That Influence the Ridership of Light Rail Transit Systems Using Thematic Analysis of Academic Literature

   https://doi.org/10.3390/futuretransp5010022  

   Ayan, Huseyin; Bell, Margaret; Dissanayake, Dilum (March 2025, Future Transportation)

   Among urban public transport systems, light rail, mass transit, and tram systems offer sustainable travel options. However, many of these systems, particularly in developed countries, fail to meet user needs and the expectations of transport authorities. Increasing the demand for urban rail systems as an alternative to private cars is essential for achieving net zero targets and Sustainable Development Goals. This study investigates the factors influencing urban rail demand using qualitative data analysis, with a focus on thematic analysis. A systematic review of 53 studies from the UK, Europe, and worldwide, including journal articles and transport research reports, was conducted and coded using NVivo Version 15 software. Six main categories emerged: land use and accessibility, service quality, user benefits, governance, sustainability aspects, and user-focused elements. These categories, along with their themes and sub-themes, were analysed using cross-tabulations to compare attributes across domains. The key findings indicate that accessibility and intermodal connectivity are crucial for encouraging urban rail use, while ticketing, station facilities, walkability, travel costs, ventilation, and security also moderately influence user preferences. This study provides essential guidelines for policymakers and transport providers to improve urban rail systems and informed the development of a questionnaire to explore the interrelationships of these factors, discussed in a forthcoming paper. 

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5. The Multiple Gradual Maximal Covering Location Problem

   https://doi.org/10.1111/gean.12410  

   Price, Ashleigh_N; Curtin, Kevin_M (July 2024, Geographical Analysis)

   This article describes a new spatial optimization model, the Multiple Gradual Maximal Covering Location Problem (MG‐MCLP). This model is useful when coverage from multiple facilities or sensors is necessary to consider a demand to be covered, and when the quality of that coverage varies with the number of located facilities within the service distance, and the distance from the demand itself. The motivating example for this model uses a coupled GIS and optimization framework to determine the optimal locations for acoustic sensors—typically used in police applications for gunshot detection—in Tuscaloosa, AL. The results identify the optimal facility locations for allocating multiple facilities, at different locations, to cover multiple demands and evaluate those optimal locations with distance‐decay. Solving the MG‐MCLP over a range of values allows for comparing the performance of varying numbers of available resources, which could be used by public safety operations to demonstrate the number of resources that would be required to meet policy goals. The results illustrate the flexibility in designing alternative spatial allocation strategies and provide a tractable covering model that is solved with standard linear programming and GIS software, which in turn can improve spatial data analysis across many operational contexts. 

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