Living Too Far: Analyzing the Mismatch Between Housing and Daily Destinations Using GPS Data

Personal mobility plays a crucial role in reducing CO2 emissions. In the US, people travel very long distances—around 7 miles on average—for everyday errands like buying groceries or going to the post office, and even longer for commuting to work. Why are people living so far from their key destinations?
This project aims to quantify the extent of this mismatch using GPS data on daily mobility. It then explores the barriers that hinder proximity, focusing on factors like income, race, and zoning laws. The goal is to understand how these factors contribute to the gap between where people live and where they ideally should live to minimize travel times. This analysis will inform how cities can better support efficient, low-emission travel.

Students will be able to gain hands-on experience working with spatial and mobility data and develop geographic data analysis and visualization skills. Furthermore, they will gain insights into urban planning and policy, particularly in how zoning and accessibility impact sustainability in cities.

Students will assist with tasks such as:

• Literature reviews.
• Writing code to query and clean mobility data using a combination of SQL and statistical software such as R or STATA.
• Making tables and figures.

Successful RAs will be detail-oriented and able to commit to 10 hours per week.