Each year nearly 5,000 patients die while waiting for kidney transplants, and yet an estimated 3,500 procured kidneys are discarded. “An increase in the organ transplant rate, coupled with a decrease in the organ discard rate, means a better use of organs that would otherwise be discarded,” Wang said. The U.S. organ transplant system has 11 geographic regions and operates as a collection of 58 donation service areas. For example, the average wait time for a kidney transplant in San Antonio, Texas, is approximately five years. “An important takeaway from this study is that better transportation infrastructure facilitates broader organ sharing,” Wang said.