Fresh, affordable food is often treated as a matter of personal choice. But new research suggests that for many city residents, access depends as much on transportation and urban design as it does on motivation or knowledge.
A study from Concordia University found that nearly half of Montreal residents do not have adequate access to grocery stores or produce markets within a 10-minute walk of their home or workplace. While access improves for people who cycle, the researchers found the strongest access comes from combining active transportation with public transit.
The study, published in Journal of Urban Mobility, examined how different modes of travel shape access to what the researchers defined as healthy food sources. These included grocery stores and fruit and vegetable markets, while convenience stores and restaurants were excluded because the nutritional quality of their offerings can vary widely.
To conduct the analysis, researchers mapped residential locations at the city-block level and matched them with the verified locations of nearly 1,000 food retailers across Montreal. They then used a routing algorithm to estimate how many healthy food stores residents could reach under three scenarios: walking only, cycling only and a combination of walking or cycling with public transit.
Travel times reflected real-world conditions, including walking to transit stops, waiting times, transfers and the final distance from a stop to a store. Areas with access to five or more stores along a given route were considered to have strong access, while areas with two or fewer were considered to have poor access.
When walking alone was considered, large portions of the city fell into the low-access category. Neighborhoods in downtown Montreal and other dense, transit-rich areas performed well, while western, southwestern, eastern and more suburban neighborhoods showed limited access. Areas with continuous bike paths also scored higher than those without them.
The researchers defined “local access” as a store reachable within a 10-minute walk or bike ride, assuming a healthy, able-bodied adult. For longer trips, they used a 30-minute window that combined active travel with public transit. Under those combined conditions, access improved substantially, suggesting that transit connectivity plays a critical role in whether people can realistically obtain fresh food as part of daily routines.
Lead author Sepideh Khorramisarvestani, a doctoral researcher in geography, planning and environment, said the findings highlight the importance of coordinating transportation and land-use planning. Locating grocery stores near transit stops, she said, can make it easier for people to pick up food on their way home from work rather than requiring a separate trip.
The study also underscores why advice that assumes people can easily walk to a grocery store does not reflect the reality of many urban residents, particularly older adults or people with mobility challenges. Even in a city known for active transportation, the researchers found that walking-only access often fell short.
While the analysis focuses on Montreal, the authors note that similar patterns are likely present in other cities with uneven transit coverage and dispersed food retail. Improving access, they suggest, may require expanding cycling networks, strengthening public transit and creating “mobility hubs” that combine transit stops with pedestrian infrastructure and essential services like grocery stores.
The research does not assess what people choose to buy once they reach a store. Instead, it focuses on whether reaching healthy food options is feasible in the first place. For public health experts, that distinction matters. Access does not guarantee healthy eating, but limited access can sharply constrain it.
This research was funded by the Fonds de recherche du Québec and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada.