Journal of Transport and Land Use

Where's dinner coming from? A utility-based investigation of food access in Utah

Gregory S. Macfarlane

Brigham Young University

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3999-7584

Emma Stucki

Brigham Young University

https://orcid.org/0009-0008-1474-3821

Alisha H. Redelfs

Brigham Young University

https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3533-6044

Lori A. Spruance

Brigham Young University

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0254-483X

DOI: https://doi.org/10.5198/jtlu.2026.2554

Keywords: Accessibility, Utility-based access, Food access, Passive location data

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Abstract

Convenient access to food resources is a critical element of public health as well as an important interface between communities and the transportation system. In this research, we seek to construct a detailed picture of the food environment in three communities in Utah, alongside the community members’ ability to access that environment through multiple transportation modes. In doing so, we construct a utility-based accessiblity model enabled by modern mobility device data. This model reveals the tradeoffs between the quality and price of goods on one hand and the distance traveled to reach them on the other. We then apply this model to a series of potential access-improving policies: building a new store, improving an existing store, and improving the non-automobile transport network between residents and existing stores. The results show that new or improved store locations bring substantially higher benefits than improvements to the transportation system at likely lower costs. The findings suggest that transportation agencies work to increase the availability of community-sized grocery stores in low-access areas and consider activity-based methods of measuring resource access.

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