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Taking people in United StatesPhase 2

Tests diet, activity and coaching support for weight loss in taxi drivers

Tests weight-loss coaching and text support in adult taxi and rideshare drivers with excess weight.

Key facts

Who runs it
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Where
New York, United StatesSee the site
Trial code
Registry title
Taxi ROADmAP (Realizing Optimization Around Diet And Physical Activity)
Status
Recruiting
Phase
Phase 2
People taking part
1,889 people, planned
Started
22 Dec 2022
Expected to end
11 Aug 2027
Type of study
Interventional, 3 groups
Treatments tested
  • Counseling
  • Text Messages
  • Phone calls
  • Self-monitoring tools
Record updated
2 September 2026

Who can take part

AI summary

From the trial's eligibility criteria. Machine-read from the registry text on this page, so it can be wrong. The registry text below and the trial team decide who can take part.

The trial is looking for overweight or obese adults. Several groups can join, including taxi and for-hire drivers in New York City and Spanish-speaking Hispanic/Latino adults seeking Mexican Consulate services.

Age
The record gives 21 years and older for the taxi/for-hire driver groups, and 18 years and older for the Hispanic/Latino groups.
Sex
All sexes can join.
Disease stage
Overweight (BMI 25 to 29.9) or obese (BMI 30 or higher). For South Asian drivers the limits are lower: BMI 23 to 24.9 is overweight and 25 or higher is obese.
Earlier treatment
Drivers in the main driver group cannot be taking weight-loss drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Rybelsus, Trulicity, Saxenda, Victoza, Phentermine, Qsymia, Contrave, Plenity or Orlistat, or have had less than 7 weeks since the last dose. They cannot have had weight-loss surgery or plan it in the next 12 months.

Main reasons for not taking part

  • Pregnant or might be pregnant, or breastfeeding
  • A chronic disease such as cancer, kidney disease or liver disease that may limit diet (high blood pressure and diabetes can still join)
  • Dietary restrictions such as a liquid diet
  • A household member or family member already in the study
  • Not in the New York area for the study period

The registry criteria, word for word

Show all 71 criteriaShow less

Who can take part

  • For COMIDA participants only:
  • Self-Identifies as Mexican American or Mexican
  • Seeking services at the VDS of the Mexican Consulate
  • Prefers to speak in Spanish
  • All adults at least 18 years of age
  • Screens as obese (an adult who has a Body Mass Index (BMI) 30 or higher) or overweight (an adult who has a BMI between 25 - 29.9)
  • Agrees to be audio recorded; For SANOS focus group participants only:
  • Self-identifies as Hispanic/Latino
  • Seeking services at VDS or VDS Mobile
  • Prefers to speak in Spanish
  • At least 18 years of age
  • Screens as obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m\^2) or overweight (BMI of 25 - 29.9 kg/m\^2)
  • Agrees to be audio recorded; For SANOS RCT participants only:
  • Self-identifies as Hispanic/Latino
  • Seeking services at VDS or VDS Mobile
  • Prefers to speak in Spanish
  • At least 18 years of age
  • Screens as obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m\^2) or overweight (BMI of 25 - 29.9 kg/m\^2)
  • Owns a cell phone capable of receiving text messages
  • Agrees to be audio recorded; For Family COMIDA participants only:
  • Self-Identifies as Hispanic/Latino
  • Seeking services at the VDS (or has used VDS services in the past) of the Mexican - Consulate or VDS Mobile
  • Prefers to speak in Spanish
  • At least 18 years of age
  • Has at least one child under age 18 living in the same household
  • Owns a cell phone capable of receiving text messages
  • Willing to receive text messages (3 texts per week for 3 months)
  • Owns an internet connected device (eg, cell phone, tablet, etc) capable of conducting teleconference calls (eg, Zoom); For ROADmAP RCT participants only:
  • At least 21 years of age
  • Full-time (drives at least 35 hours per week) licensed taxi/FHV driver
  • Driver for at least 6 months
  • Seeking Health Fairs (or has used Health Fairs services in the past)
  • Speaks English, French, Bengali, or Spanish
  • Screens a as obese (BMI ≥ 30 kg/m2 [≥25 kg/m2 for South Asians]) or overweight (BMI of 25 - 29.9 kg/m2 s [23- 24.9 kg/m2 for South Asians]); (BMI cut-offs are lower for South Asians, per WHO and American Diabetes Association recommendations)
  • Owns a cell phone capable of receiving text messages
  • Agrees to be audio-recorded; For ROADmAP Phase 2 participants only:
  • At least 21 years of age
  • Driver who participated in ROADmAP RCT or manager at a taxi garage, Uber, Lyft or driver serving/union/organization
  • Agrees to be audio-recorded

Who cannot take part

  • Is currently taking Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, Rybelsus, Trulicity Saxenda, Victoza, Phentermine (Adipex, Lomaira), Extended-release Phentermine/Topiramate (Qsymia), Extended-release Naltrexone/Bupropion (Contrave), Plenity, Orlistat (Xenical) or Other GLP-1 receptor agonist, or any other drug to treat obesity or there is less than 7 weeks since last dosage
  • Has undergone weight loss/bariatric surgery or is planning to undergo such surgery in the next 12 months
  • Presence of a chronic disease such as cancer, kidney disease, liver disease, etc. (Individuals with diabetes, lactose intolerance, and high blood pressure MAY still participate in the study)
  • Presence of a serious psychiatric or cognitive impairment likely to preclude meaningful informed consent and adherence to the protocol per the consenting professional"s judgment
  • Self-reported presence of a chronic disease such as cancer, kidney disease, liver disease, etc. (individuals with HTN and DM may still participate)
  • Self-reported presence of a chronic disease such as cancer, kidney disease, liver disease, etc. (individuals with HTN and DM may still participate); restricting diet
  • Will not be in the NY Metropolitan area for the study duration (3 months) Presence of a chronic disease such as cancer, kidney disease, liver disease, etc. (Individuals with diabetes, lactose intolerance, and high blood pressure MAY still participate in the study)
  • Self-reported presence of a chronic disease such as cancer, kidney disease, liver disease, etc. (individuals with HTN and DM may still participate) that may restrict diet
  • For COMIDA participants only:
  • Will not be in the NYC area for the study duration (3-4 months) Is pregnant or might be pregnant
  • Lactating women
  • Has dietary restrictions (i.e. liquid diet)
  • Does not have a phone that accepts text messages or unwilling to accept text messages
  • Has another family member already enrolled in COMIDA (as determined by patient report); For SANOS focus group participants only:
  • Is pregnant or might be pregnant; lactating women
  • Has dietary restrictions (i.e. liquid diet)
  • Has a household member who has already participated (or agreed to participate); For SANOS RCT participants only:
  • Is pregnant or might be pregnant; lactating women; for the study duration (6 months)
  • Currently has dietary restrictions (i.e. liquid diet)
  • Has a household member who has already participated (or agreed to participate)
  • Has already participated in the study
  • Will not be in the NY Metropolitan area for the study duration (6 months) Works for or with the Mexican consulate (including employment and/or collaborative or volunteer services); For Family COMIDA participants only:
  • Is pregnant or might be pregnant; lactating women for the study duration (3 months)
  • Has dietary restrictions (i.e. liquid diet)
  • Has another family member who has already participated in COMIDA or SANOS
  • Has already participated in the study
  • Works for or with the Mexican consulate (including employment and/or collaborative or volunteer services); For ROADmAP RCT participants only:
  • Is pregnant or might be pregnant; lactating women; for the study duration (12 months)
  • Currently has dietary restrictions (i.e. liquid diet)
  • Has a household member who has already participated (or agreed to participate)
  • Has already participated in the study
  • Will not be in the NY Metropolitan area for 6 months from study enrollment

Where in United States

  • Mexican Consulate's Ventanilla de Salud (VDS)New York, United StatesContact: Jennifer Leng, MD, MPHTaking people

About the trial

What the trial wants to find out

The researchers will conduct 'Taxi ROADmAP (Realizing Optimization Around Diet And Physical activity)', which also utilizes MOST, and the same 4 obesity intervention components as in SANOS, but targets the overweight/obesity crisis in another at-risk, low socioeconomic status (SES) population, taxi and for-hire vehicle (FHV) drivers (Lyft, Uber, etc.). ROADMAP also utilizes an effectiveness- implementation hybrid type 1 design. Hybrid trials, which blend effectiveness and implementation studies, can lead to more rapid translational uptake and more effective implementation. Taxi and FHV drivers are a growing, multilingual, hard-to-reach, predominantly immigrant and minority essential worker population. There are over 750,000 licensed taxi and FHV drivers in in the U.S. and over 185,000 in New York City (NYC). They have higher rates of overweight/obese range body mass index (BMI) than New Yorkers in general (77% vs 56%) and have high rates of elevated waist circumference, sedentary behavior, poor diets, and health care services underutilization. ROADmAP will test 4 evidence- and theory-based (Social Cognitive Theory [SCT]) behavior change intervention components. We will use MOST to identify which of the 4 components contribute most significantly and cost-effectively to weight loss among NYC drivers recruited at workplace health fairs (HFs) and virtually. Objectives are to apply MOST to design an optimized version of a scalable, lifestyle intervention for taxi/FHV drivers, and then to conduct a mixed methods multistakeholder process evaluation to facilitate widespread intervention implementation.

The 3 groups in the trial

  • ROADmAP schemaTreatment being tested

    Participants will be randomly assigned to one of eight study groups which will be one or a combination of 4 conditions: (1) in person individualized diet and exercise counseling (2) diet and exercise text messages (3) weekly telephone support and (4) self-monitoring tools for diet and weight. For the first part of the study, Survey, approximately 64 drivers and 36 management staff will take pate in the feedback questionnaire. For the second part of the study, Interview, approximately 8 drivers and 12 management staff may be invited to take part in an interview via phone, in person, or teleconference (Zoom). The audio files will be transcribed and translated by research staff and/or MSK-approved AI transcription tool, Azure Speech in Foundry Tools.

    Treatment: Counseling, Text Messages, Phone calls, and Self-monitoring tools

  • Consumo de Opciones Mas Ideales De Alimento (COMIDA)Other group

    Participants will be placed in either individual or group interventions by convenience. Recruitment will be consecutive and participants will be placed in either intervention depending on what resource is available on a given day at the VDS, individual counselor or a group educator.

    Treatment: Phone calls

  • SANOSOther group

    Conducting SANOS Focus Groups. We will conduct 3-5 focus groups (in Spanish) with 6-10 participants each, until saturation. Bilingual study staff will approach individuals visiting the VDS and VDS Mobile for potential participation. A brief screening questionnaire will be administered, and a BMI assessment conducted, to ascertain eligibility. Focus groups will be scheduled at the VDS Mobile unit at times convenient to participants. Participants will be verbally consented in Spanish, and will be apprised that their participation is purely voluntary and that their names will not be included in the final narrative. The 6-month follow-up and my plate dietary surveys can be done over phone. Study staff will access step counts (or obtain it through phone via the pedometer manual provided to the participant) and upload data onto the REDCap tracking tool. Staff may ask participants to report step counts captured by their personal devices (i.e., phone or smartwatch).

    Treatment: Self-monitoring tools

Questions to ask the study team

  1. How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
  2. Are travel costs paid?
  3. Can I keep my own doctor?
  4. What happens if I want to stop?

Contact the study team: see the registry record → Contacts and Locations

Print a page for my doctor

Data and sources

Registry record
Listed on ClinicalTrials.gov.
Official title
Taxi ROADmAP (Realizing Optimization Around Diet And Physical Activity)
Plain-language title
Tests diet, activity and coaching support for weight loss in taxi driversGenerated from the registry record. The registry title is the official one.
AI summary
From the trial's eligibility criteria. Read by machine on 12 November 2026.
Record updated
2 September 2026