Using Data Science for Equity at SFMTA (brief)
Policy Brief

Program Area(s):

Date: July 12, 2022

Author(s): Ryan Caro

Abstract

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) made significant cutbacks to transit service. As the agency has reinstated service, the Board of Directors asked staff to conduct equity analyses, specifically to calculate the number of jobs available via transit to residents of nine previously identified “equity neighborhoods”: Treasure Island, Chinatown, Tenderloin/SOMA, Western Addition, the Mission, Bayview, Visitacion Valley, Outer Mission/Excelsior, and Oceanview/Ingleside. These equity neighborhoods have higher-than-average concentrations of people of color, low-income families, households without vehicle access, and affordable housing. SFMTA is interested in exploring different ways to use data science to automate these analyses.

About the Project

This capstone project was completed in partial satisfaction of the requirements for the degree Master of Urban & Regional Planning at the UCLA Luskin School of Public Affairs.