Transit-Weighted Opportunity Mapping

Transit-weighted Opportunity Mapping: A Novel Tool to Bring Equity and Climate Goals into Balance is a study commissioned by the Governor's Office of Planning and Research (OPR) and prepared as a Master's thesis in partial fulfillment of the Goldman School of Public Policy's degree requirements.

As part of the study, Eddie Sun (MPP '20) developed a quantitative tool for evaluating the socio-economic as well as transportation resources of every census tract in the State of California.

This tool builds on the existing Opportunity Map that the State uses to guide the allocation of affordable housing tax credits. Census tracts are ranked by opportunity level, with higher levels indicative of better-performing schools, fewer environmental contaminants, more jobs, and more vibrant labor markets. By expanding the set of socio-economic indicators to include neighborhood compactness and vehicular travel, the new map aims to guide future housing allocation toward areas with lower commute burdens and reduced tailpipe carbon emissions.