TY  - JOUR
AU  - Smarsh, Brianna L.
AU  - Park, Young Shin
AU  - Lee, Seung Hee
AU  - Harris, Diane M.
AU  - Blanck, Heidi M.
PY  - 2025
TI  - Public Transit Supports for Food Access: 2021 National Survey of Community-Based Policy and Environmental Supports for Healthy Eating and Active Living (CBS HEAL)
T2  - Preventing Chronic Disease
JO  - Prev Chronic Dis
SP  - E20
VL  - 22
CY  - Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, Georgia 30333, USA.
N2  - INTRODUCTION  Municipalities can improve access to food through transit planning. The primary objective of this study was to describe the prevalence of public transit supports for food access among a sample of US municipalities and their association with the municipalities' sociodemographic characteristics. METHODS  This study used a nationally representative sample (N = 1,956) of US municipalities with a population of at least 1,000 that responded to the 2021 National Survey of Community-Based Policy and Environmental Supports for Healthy Eating and Active Living. We assessed 4 outcomes: public transit availability and planning, presence of demand responsive transportation (DRT), DRT services to food retail destinations (farmers markets and supermarkets), and consideration of these locations in transit planning. We used chi2 tests to compare the prevalence of outcomes by municipal characteristics and multivariable logistic regression to calculate odds ratios to assess the relationship between municipal characteristics and having DRT. RESULTS  Approximately half (weighted 53.2%) of municipalities reported having or planning for public transit, of which 27.1% and 52.6% reported considering service to farmers markets or supermarkets, respectively. Approximately one-third (35.5%) of municipalities reported having DRT, of which 52.0% and 84.4% reported services to farmers markets or supermarkets, respectively. All outcomes significantly differed by municipal characteristics. We found higher odds of having DRT in municipalities with 2,500 to 50,000 people or more (vs <2,500 people); those with 50% or less of the population being non-Hispanic White (vs >50% non-Hispanic White); and municipalities containing low-income/low-access tracts. The odds of having DRT were lower in rural (vs urban) municipalities and in those in Northeast and South (vs the Midwest). CONCLUSION  Results suggest opportunities for municipalities to use transit planning to improve food access, especially in northeastern, southern, smaller, or rural communities.
SN  - 1545-1151
UR  - https://doi.org/10.5888/pcd22.240458
DO  - 10.5888/pcd22.240458
ER  -