Incorporating Eligibility Constraints in Spatial Accessibility Modeling and Introducing Enhanced Rational Agent Access Model

This study incorporates eligibility constraints (EC) as a unified framework that integrates legal, institutional, and economic barriers into spatial accessibility modeling, describing how these constraints shape real-world access. Building on this foundation, the study develops the enhanced rational agent access model (eRAAM), an extension of the rational agent access model (RAAM) proposed by Saxon and Snow (Citation2020). eRAAM integrates EC with flow distribution and capacity limits to enable more fine-scale and realistic inpatient care accessibility analysis, using Florida as a case study. Unlike existing models, eRAAM generates accessibility scores by insurance group (public, private, and uninsured) and hospital type (public and private). A further contribution is the introduction of the competing demand ratio, a parameter that specifies the proportion of the population competing for facility at a given time. In doing so, eRAAM operationalizes all five dimensions of accessibility (5A) within a single framework, bridging a multidecadal gap between theory and modeling. Structural comparisons with the original RAAM demonstrate that the eRAAM incorporates additional factors and parameters shaping inpatient care access, enabling a more comprehensive representation of accessibility complexity. Although applied here to inpatient care, the model has potential across education, dental and vision care, primary care, specialty clinics, child care, shelters, and other essential services. As such, eRAAM represents a new approach to accessibility modeling—one that is capacity-aware, demand-sensitive, and directly relevant to precise policy and planning.