Influence of the measurement of distance on assessment of recreation access

Residents’ recreation behavior is highly influenced by their level of access to recreation opportunities. Distance is an important component of access. The purpose of this study was to measure levels of access to public beaches in the Detroit Metropolitan Area (DMA) using four travel distances (1, 6, 10, and 20 miles) and three access measures (minimum distance, travel cost, and covering), with the intent of demonstrating the sensitivity of findings to both the distance and measure employed. Findings indicate that while public beaches are geographically accessible for a majority of the DMA population within 20 miles according to all access measures, at distances less than 20 miles level of access varies substantially with the access measure used. Future access studies should consider a range of travel distances rather than the single distance typical of most prior analyses and should also be sensitive to the differentials produced by the access measure employed.