Anglicare chief executive officer Jeremy Halcrow said people were travelling ''extraordinary distances'' to access emergency food, including one man who regularly walks two hours from his Fyshwick home.

Mr Halcrow said the research, issued by Anglicare and Red Cross earlier this month, found that one Gungahlin resident had been forced to catch a taxi to access an emergency food relief service.

''For someone on a low income to have to catch a taxi to get emergency food, it really illustrates the problem we have here with public transport,'' he said. ''Lack of good access to public transport is associated with food insecurity. In Canberra, we don't have the public transport options that other cities have.''

Mr Halcrow said the ACT government needed to look at the wider consequences of changes to public transport, following a proposal by ACTION buses to cut the number of stops along routes.

''People on low incomes who are suffering hunger and food insecurity are highly reliant on public transport,'' he said.

''By reducing options, you're making it more difficult for them to access healthy food. The government needs to bear in mind that there are disadvantaged families throughout the territory. We need to make sure all suburbs have access to good public transport.''

Minister for Territory and Municipal Services Shane Rattenbury said the proposed changes to bus services had been created in consultation with welfare agencies.

He said the new routes would provide services to new suburbs in Molonglo and increase access for Narrabundah long stay caravan park residents.

''Areas of disadvantage has been considered in the network planning process,'' he said.

''For example, the Fyshwick long stay caravan park is located on the high frequency Red Rapid route.''

Mr Rattenbury said the government was also exploring the option of a community bus service, which would allow people with particular disadvantages to access supermarkets and medical facilities with greater ease. ''It's in the research phase,'' he said.

''I'm expecting to get a brief in the next four to six weeks.''

Researchers found that transport accessibility was a crucial part of food security, ''particularly in a car-oriented city like Canberra''.

They also raised concerns for newer suburbs, where residents may have difficulty accessing major shops.

A survey of six food relief services found that some respondents had gone hungry because they ran out of petrol and couldn't afford to travel to a service. Two thirds of respondents listed public transport, cycling or walking as their main form of transport.