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ORCID
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1897-4156
Access Type
Open Access Thesis
Document Type
thesis
Degree Program
Sociology
Degree Type
Master of Arts (M.A.)
Year Degree Awarded
2022
Month Degree Awarded
September
Abstract
Segregation has many negative consequences for marginalized populations, including poor health, increased poverty, low-quality housing, and limited education and employment opportunities. Scholars have recently recognized access to food as another piece of this “advanced marginality.” This study illuminates how lagging food and transportation infrastructures exacerbates these interlocking inequalities and whether new ride-hail technologies' promise that ride-hail services like Uber and Lyft will help affected populations access food stores with lower prices and higher food quality. As a descriptive understanding of the intersection between food, transportation, and racial residential segregation in Chicago, Illinois, this study analyzes two questions: (1) how often are ride-hail trips crossing food desert census tract boundaries; and (2) are ride-hail trips that cross food desert census tract boundaries accessing food stores? Using spatial analyses of the City of Chicago’s ride-hail transportation data, food store location data, American Community Survey data, and USDA food desert classification data, this study finds that ride-hail services are accessing food desert neighborhoods, but they are doing so at a very low rate, and very few ride-hail rides are used to access food stores after departing from food desert neighborhoods.
DOI
https://doi.org/10.7275/31152611
First Advisor
Jonathan Wynn
Second Advisor
Mark Pachucki
Third Advisor
David Cort
Recommended Citation
Reynolds, Kathryn, "A New Way to Get Groceries? Ride-Hail Services and Navigating Outside of Food Deserts" (2022). Masters Theses. 1228.
https://doi.org/10.7275/31152611
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/masters_theses_2/1228