BACKGROUND: Cooling centers are set up in communities as cool down resources during periods of extreme heat. But some of these cooling centers may not be accessible via public transportation, especially in rural areas of New York State (NYS). The objectives of this study were to assess accessibility of cooling centers in Upstate NY with regards to 1) distance from both general and vulnerable populations and 2) accessibility via public transportation.
METHODS: Cooling centers locations were previously identified and geocoded. Vulnerable census tracts were identified using data from National Climatic Data Center, National Land Cover Database and US Census Bureau, county vulnerability to heat was defined by a combination of exposure (frequency of heat waves, daily maximum temperature); sensitivity (housing and population density, urbanicity, race, poverty; elderly living alone); health impact (prevalence of heat related illnesses and renal, respiratory and cardio-vascular diseases) and adaptive capacity factors (land cover, intensity of built environment, and age of home, foreign born, or a non-English speaker). Using a scoring system, 14 vulnerable counties and 284 vulnerable tracts were identified and mapped. Distance between cooling centers and population was determined using census tract centroid. Accessibility via mass transit was determined in four major metropolitan regions of NYS (excluding NYC) including cities of Buffalo, Rochester, Syracuse and Albany.
RESULTS: We observed that 40% of NYS population was within 0.5 mile radius of a cooling center. About 37% of 284 vulnerable tracts were within one mile, 20% were within two miles and 35% were within five miles of a cooling center. Within the four metro regions, accessibility via public transportation, determined by distance between cooling center and nearest public transit stop, showed about 60% were within half mile and 77% were within two miles of a public transportation stop.
CONCLUSIONS: Several counties have cooling centers in the summertime and majority are accessible via public transportation, but less than half the population has a cooling center within walking distance(0.5 miles). Future planning of cooling centers should accommodate populations that do not have access to or cannot afford the cost of public transportation.