Census Tracts Designated as Equity Priority Communities by MTC for the Bay Area Regional Climate Action Planning Initiative Frontline Communities Map.

Shapefile contains census tracts identified as Equity Priority Communities by MTC as part of the Plan Bay Area 2050 process for the five counties that are included in the Bay Area Regional Climate Action Planning Initiative Frontline Communities Map. The original shapefile was downloaded from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), Equity Priority Communities webpage. The “Clip” tool in ArcMap was used to select only those features which are located within the boundaries of the five Bay Area counties included in the Frontline Communities Map. Only those census tracts where epc_2050 column is equal to 1 are displayed. Where, epc_2050 is defined as "Equity Priority Community PBA 2050" in the original codebook and 1 is equivalent to a true statement. To learn more about the methodology behind the original dataset, please visit: https://opendata.mtc.ca.gov/datasets/MTC::equity-priority-communities-plan-bay-area-2050/about The Frontline Communities Map is meant to help identify communities that are considered frontline communities for the purpose of the USEPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grant (CPRG) program’s planning effort, which is a five-county climate action planning process led by the Air District. USEPA refers to these communities as low-income and disadvantaged communities (LIDACs). Formerly called “Communities of Concern,” Equity Priority Communities are census tracts that have a significant concentration of underserved populations. The Equity Priority Communities framework helps MTC make decisions on investments that meaningfully reverse the disparities in access to transportation, housing and other community services. The Equity Priority Communities (tract geography) dataset is based upon eight demographic variables: • People of Color (70% threshold) • Low-Income (28% threshold) • Limited English Proficiency (12% threshold) • Seniors 75 Years and Over (8% threshold) • Zero-Vehicle Households (15% threshold) • Single Parent Families (18% threshold) • People with a Disability (12% threshold) • Rent-Burdened Households (14% threshold) A tract is considered an Equity Priority Community: 1. If a tract exceeds both threshold values for BOTH Low-Income AND People of Color, or 2. If a tract exceeds the threshold value for Low-Income AND exceeds the threshold values for three or more of the six remaining variables