Operationalizing accessibility thresholds: Identifying perceived minimum and sufficient accessibility in Canada

Source abstract

As accessibility becomes integral to transport planning, it is important to identify operational thresholds for evaluating access to essential destinations. Motivated by the operationalization gap between theory and planning practice, we develop a methodology to identify two levels of accessibility thresholds: Perceived Minimum Accessibility (PMA), representing basic access to essential destinations, and Perceived Sufficient Accessibility (PSA), representing convenient access. Using data from the nationwide Canadian Mobility Survey ( N = 15,960), we analyse the relationship between perceived accessibility to grocery stores, healthcare, and leisure destinations by walking and public transit and the participants' corresponding calculated accessibility by public transit. We apply binned log-linear regressions combined with a quartile-based approach to identify region-specific PMA and PSA thresholds. We then assess threshold coverage for the general and low-income populations and map their spatial distribution across income groups. Finally, we examine how these thresholds relate to travel behaviour by estimating weekly walking and public transit mode share using region-specific weighted linear regressions and marginal effects analysis. Our findings reveal substantial regional variation. Large regions achieve broad coverage at the PMA level but require significant improvements to reach PSA levels. Mid-sized and smaller regions often struggle to meet PMA for most of their population, and PSA levels remain largely unattainable under current conditions. PMA levels yield only modest gains in sustainable mode share, whereas PSA levels are associated with considerably higher levels of walking and public transit use. By developing perception-based accessibility thresholds, this study provides a practical framework to support more equitable and sustainable transport and land-use planning.