Dolapo Oladiran

Easily accessible public transit systems has become an increasingly important topic over the last few years, as the increase of carbon dioxide pollution from privately owned motor vehicles and soaring gas prices has forced people to use transit more frequently. Having easily accessible public transit systems also contributes to the growth and wellbeing of communities that have a continuously dropping standard of living. Understanding how accessible public transit systems are located within cities allows for better infrastructure planning, by targeting areas that are underserviced by transit. Having an understanding of public transit systems' locations, can also assist in determining if a relationship exists between communities exhibiting low standards of living, known as social injustices, and areas with inadequately accessible public transit systems known as transit deserts. Using these two factors, the research paper attempts to create a new method of highlighting areas exhibiting inaccessible public transit by conducting an optimized hotspot analysis on Google Transit Feed Specification (GTFS) routes in order to visualize transit coldspots in the Greater Golden Horseshoe. The coldspots indicated locations with very little to no public transit routes available. In terms of social injustice, choropleth maps using variables that illustrate social injustice were created. The maps allowed for spatial comparison between social injustice and transit deserts, and a linear regression determined if statistical significance exists within the analysis conducted. It was discovered that by using this new method alongside linear regression, there is a very weak spatial and statistical relationship between social injustice and transit deserts within the Golden Horseshoe. A benefit of this method is that areas with public transit deserts and social injustice were visualized, allowing for further research on improving public transit to take place.