**Vital Signs is an interactive website by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) that offers data, visualizations, and contextualized narratives on important trends in the San Francisco Bay Area related to land use, transportation, the environment, the economy and equity.**\
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The San Francisco Bay Area has established an innovative monitoring initiative to track trends related to transportation, land and people, the economy, the environment and equity. Measurements in these areas are our region’s Vital Signs, helping us understand where we are succeeding and where we are falling short. Led by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), this effort relies upon extensive collaboration with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District and the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission.\
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This data-driven website compiles dozens of indicators; each is presented with interactive visualizations that allow you to explore historical trends, examine differences between cities, counties and the 9-county Bay Area region. Let’s track our region’s Vital Signs!

About

**The San Francisco Bay Area has established an innovative monitoring initiative to track trends related to transportation, land and people, the economy, the environment and social equity.**

Measurements in these areas are our region’s Vital Signs – helping us understand where we are succeeding and where we are falling short. Led by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG), this effort relies upon extensive collaboration with the Bay Area Air Quality Management District, the San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission and the Bay Area Regional Collaborative.

This data-driven website compiles dozens of indicators; each is presented with interactive visualizations that allow you to explore historical trends, examine differences between cities and counties, and even compare the Bay Area with other peer metropolitan areas. Let’s track our region’s Vital Signs!

Vital Signs is an interactive website by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC) and Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG) that offers data, visualizations and contextualized narratives on important trends in the San Francisco Bay Area related to land use, transportation, the environment, the economy and equity. Vital Signs monitors the Bay Area's performance on a range of measures to better understand where the region is succeeding and where it is falling short. The Vital Signs website helps MTC-ABAG, partner agencies and residents of the Bay Area make informed decisions towards achieving policy goals.

What is Vital Signs?

In August 2023, MTC-ABAG launched a newly redesigned Vital Signs website to improve the user experience. The new website design and layout help users find what they're looking for faster and invite more open-ended exploration across the site. Additionally, the data and narratives for approximately half of the Vital Signs indicators have been updated to reflect the post-COVID-19 world. More refreshed data and narratives will be available in future updates to Vital Signs.

What's new in Vital Signs?

A Vital Signs indicator is a quantifiable measure of regional progress on a specific topic, typically tracking a measure of regional planning importance such as congestion, population or home prices. Many indicators originate from regional, state and national performance measures, including those developed as part of the region’s long-range transportation and housing blueprint known as [Plan Bay Area](https://planbayarea.org/). Vital Signs currently tracks 41 indicators across five topic areas.

What is a Vital Signs indicator?

To identify and understand the trends affecting Bay Area residents, workers and businesses, we first need to gather data on the conditions shaping our region. Vital Signs compiles data on these topics into one easily accessible website, available to the public, agency staff members and policymakers. Vital Signs makes it easier for Bay Area residents to understand and track progress on key regional issues.

Why do we need Vital Signs?

Use the homepage or site menu to view the range of topics available and navigate to the indicator you are most interested in. Each indicator’s page presents at least one interactive visualization that you can customize to explore in more depth. These customized graphs and maps can be easily shared via social media or downloaded as images. If you would prefer to access the source data used to create the visualizations, you can do so directly from the indicator page. Be sure to share whatever you find interesting with us on [LinkedIn](https://www.linkedin.com/company/metropolitan-transportation-commission/), [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/MTCBATA/), [Instagram](https://instagram.com/mtcbata), [Threads](https://www.threads.com/@mtcbata), or [Bluesky](https://bsky.app/profile/mtcbata.bsky.social).

How do I use the Vital Signs website?

The data for each Vital Signs measure comes from a variety of national, state and regional data sources. These data have been collected, processed and combined so that they can be easily visualized and downloaded. If you would like to learn more about sources used for each measure, refer to the Sources section at the bottom of each indicator page. Processed data is available for download directly from the various indicator pages.

Where does the data come from?

The Vital Signs initiative is led by the [Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC)](https://mtc.ca.gov/) and the [Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG)](https://abag.ca.gov/) and relies on extensive collaboration with the [Bay Area Air Quality Management District](https://www.baaqmd.gov/) and the [San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission](https://www.bcdc.ca.gov/).

Who maintains Vital Signs?

If you have questions about Vital Signs, please contact us at [vitalsigns.info@bayareametro.gov](mailto:vitalsigns.info@bayareametro.gov).


Whom do I contact with questions about Vital Signs?

About Vital Signs

Home

Targets

Perhaps the most basic view of the region pertains to its overall population and the jobs it holds. Changes here can impact demand for new homes, impacting existing communities or requiring new ones. 


The transportation system is the backbone of the regional economy and community - connecting people to places, workers to employers and goods to markets. Continued investments in the transportation network is critical to allow for the movement of freight and people.


Commute & Transit

Traffic & Congestion

Infrastructure

The economy is the critical productive nexus where goods and services are provided and revenue and salaries enter the hands of consumers. A healthy economy creates value for companies and workers. This group of indicators encompasses a range of measures related to economic activity.

The regional environment encompasses a range of indicators related to resilience and serve as a benchmark for key risks in our region - from greenhouse gas emissions, sea level rise and bay restoration, the quality of the air we breathe, to the safety performance of our transportation network.


It is critical that the economy and housing market function in ways that minimize disparities between communities; that housing be affordable to a range of household types; that growth doesn’t lead to displacement; that work doesn’t lead to poverty; and that life expectancy is not determined by one’s zip code.

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Frequently Asked Questions