Transportation and Welfare Reform
by April Kaplan
Background
The work requirements in the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) block grant will increase the number of low-income parents that must enter the work force. When fully effective, welfare reform may move an additional 1-2 million people into the low-income work force. For many such parents, employment and childcare will not be readily accessible by currently available transportation. Many of these recipients live in rural areas and, according to the Community Transportation Reporter, 38 percent of rural Americans live in communities unserved by any public transportation. Other recipients who live in urban areas will need to find transportation to jobs in the suburbs. Many jobs will require travel outside of peak times, when bus service is frequent, or at night, when no service is available. TANF funds and other resources can help address these problems.
Policy Issues
Welfare reform will not succeed unless workers can get to jobs and to supportive services like daycare. There are several important factors that states will have to look at when considering policy and program changes to address transportation needs, including:
Increased Volume: The number of persons who work under TANF will significantly increase the demand on available services in low-income areas. Additional Destinations: Under the JOBS program, most rides were to central locations; under TANF, jobs will be dispersed to various work sites. Reverse Commuting: The suburbs are where many of the jobs are, so special provisions will be needed to transport recipients from central cities to these locations. Lack of Personal Transportation: Low-income households typically lack reliable automobiles for commuting, leaving them to rely on public transportation. Non-Standard Work Hours: Many lower skilled jobs require evening, night and weekend work. Public transportation is often unavailable at those times. Fragmented Systems: Many programs provide their own transportation services, which results in duplication of efforts. State policies and regulations frequently preclude these riders from traveling together or agencies from using one another’s vehicles. Communication Barriers: Market barriers include inappropriate or insufficient providers, language and cultural issues, cost regulations and lack of information about available services.
Increased Volume: The number of persons who work under TANF will significantly increase the demand on available services in low-income areas.
Additional Destinations: Under the JOBS program, most rides were to central locations; under TANF, jobs will be dispersed to various work sites.
Reverse Commuting: The suburbs are where many of the jobs are, so special provisions will be needed to transport recipients from central cities to these locations.
Lack of Personal Transportation: Low-income households typically lack reliable automobiles for commuting, leaving them to rely on public transportation.
Non-Standard Work Hours: Many lower skilled jobs require evening, night and weekend work. Public transportation is often unavailable at those times.
Fragmented Systems: Many programs provide their own transportation services, which results in duplication of efforts. State policies and regulations frequently preclude these riders from traveling together or agencies from using one another’s vehicles.
Communication Barriers: Market barriers include inappropriate or insufficient providers, language and cultural issues, cost regulations and lack of information about available services.
Some transportation issues can be addressed on an individual level through vouchers, donations and volunteers. Better coordination of existing resources like transportation computer mapping systems, interdepartmental task forces, involving human services into transportation planning, developing business/community partnerships, and using one single transportation broker can
address other issues. However, other issues will require more basic policy changes, like providing transportation subsidies in welfare reform initiatives, creating more flexible insurance regulations, and exempting the value of cars in determining eligibility for benefits. States and communities addressing the issues will want to begin with a clear definition of need and a comprehensive inventory of potential resources. As with many aspects of welfare reform, the public agency may be the convener and catalyst, but resources will involve a wide range of players, public and private. Key players include: state agencies responsible for education, insurance, economic development and transportation, their local counterparts, public transit authorities, and employers.
Research Findings
According to the Community Transportation Association of America, JOBS program studies have concluded that the lack of affordable transportation presents a barrier even more serious than the lack of child care to prospective JOBS clients.
Two major demonstration projects that are addressing the need to connect people, jobs and transportation.
Bridges to Work is built on research identifying "spacial displacement" as a barrier to work. Along with private foundations, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has recently launched Bridges to Work in Baltimore, Milwaukee, St. Louis, Chicago and Denver. According to Public/Private Ventures, it will examine how unemployed and underemployed inner-city residents and suburban employers seeking qualified workers may benefit from the linkage of poor but job-ready inner-city residents with suburban jobs. Bridges to Work is designed to yield interim results that will serve as the basis for early replication and expansion of the policy strategy. It is expected that by the end of the first year of demonstration, Public/Private Ventures will have completed an interim study evaluating the start-up phase. By FY 1998, Public/Private Ventures should be in a position, at the Clinton administration’s option, to expand the initiative into a strategic planning process at a much larger set of metropolitan areas. There is an additional $10 million proposed in the FY 1998 HUD budget that would expand Bridges to Work to an additional 10 sites. Contact Mark Hughes, Vice President of Public/Private Ventures, 215/557-4400.
JOBLINKS, sponsored by the Federal Transit Administration and the Community Transportation Association of America, is focused on incorporating transportation and humans services interventions into one package. JOBLINKS was initiated in two phases. Phase I included Arkansas, California, Kentucky, Michigan, Oregon and North Carolina. Phase II includes Kansas, Maryland, Mississippi, New Mexico, New York and West Virginia. Applied Management and Planning Group is currently working on a post project analysis of the phase I sites and a report is expected to be available in the summer of 1997. Phase II was started in January 1997 and post-project analysis is scheduled to by completed by the summer of 1998. Contact Charlie Dickson, Associate Director, Community Transportation Association of America, 202/628-1480.
For research on individual JOBLINKS sites, see JOBLINKS Post-Program Assessment by the Applied Management and Planning Group. Los Angeles, CA. 310/820-0741.
Innovative Practices
JOBLINKS
The Southeastern Arkansas Transportation system has used their senior center vans during their off-times to serve residents needing employment transportation.
Detroit’s Operation ABLE was designed in collaboration with the Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART), the area’s public transportation provider. ABLE has developed an on-site computer terminal connection to SMART’s scheduling dispatch system. This allows agency officials to act as travel agents by booking clients on paratransit buses and by securing schedule and route information for existing main bus routes.
Louisville, Kentucky, has a collaborative effort between Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Development Agency and the Transit Authority of River City. Together they designed a new bus route and developed a coalition of community-based organizations serving Louisville that provided clients for the new route.
Oregon’s Gateway provides a data bank and dispatch system that matches participants in need of temporary or emergency rides with volunteer drivers; volunteers are reimbursed on a per mile basis. It also provides a driver assistance and education program designed to help clients pay for fuel, license fees and training on a limited basis.
See The Community Transportation Reporter, April 1996, Vol. 14, No. 3, http://www.ctaa.org, for the latest JOBLINKS updates and details of JOBLINKS initiatives or contact the Community Transportation Association of America, 202/628-1480.
BRIDGES TO WORK
The Baltimore-Washington International Airport Business Partnership is a model Bridges to Work. The Baltimore-Washington International Airport Business Partnership is working with the Historic East Baltimore Community Action Coalition to match unemployed central city residents with jobs. Contact Dolores Kinney, Maryland Department of Transportation, 410/865-1277.
Accel Transportation in Chicago has developed a reverse commute demonstration project in southwest Chicago. Its primary function is to offer riders an employment and training program. Accel’s function is to transport tenants from housing projects around the city to suburban job opportunities.
Wisconsin Job-Ride Program in Milwaukee provides transportation for city residents to get to interviews and to jobs. This service provides a transition – usually six months – until the rider can purchase a car or establish alternative carpooling arrangements. Contact Nuber Dixon, Director of Job-Ride Program. Wisconsin also has Wisconsin’s Employment Transportation Initiative, which integrates programming and planning at the state level between the Department of Transportation and the Department of Workforce Development to respond to transportation needs. Contact Toya Nelson, Deputy Director, Bureau of Transit and Local Roads, Wisconsin Department of Transportation, 608/266-6881.
Suburban JobLink Inc. in Chicago has developed reverse commute routes with their own older buses. They also provide social counseling to help welfare recipients become ready to work. They also use old school buses to run three daily shifts out to office parks and factories. Welfare recipients ride free while training and then pay the regular $1.85 when they find work. Contact John Plunket, President & CEO, Suburban Job-Links Corporation-Urban Jobless/Suburban Jobs, 773/522-8700.
For more information on Bridges to Work initiatives, contact Mark Hughes, Assistant Director, Public/Private Ventures, 215/557-4400.
Other Transportation and Welfare Reform Initiatives
One approach to better coordination of transportation services is to consolidate activities or operations. The most common approaches to consolidation are to create single providers and the development of brokerages. Vermont Public Transit Association operates their Volunteer Program using eleven regional brokers that are charged with funding the most appropriate, least costly transportation for clients.
Among other states that have brokers coordinating transportation is New Jersey, which has a pilot project that will look at bringing welfare and Medicaid transportation under a transportation broker.
The New Jersey Department of Transportation is also working with the New Jersey Department of Human Services to ensure that transportation is not a barrier to work force participation by developing an interdepartmental transportation work group. The group has representatives of all agencies to look at coordinating transportation among state department and state-funded programs. Contact Kyra Barry, N.J. Department of Transportation, 201/491-7105.
Illinois is exempting the equity value of one vehicle from consideration in determining eligibility for AFDC. Contact Karan Maxson, Administrator, Division of Planning and Community Service Department of Public Aid, 217/785-3300. Maryland will also allow a car of any value and other asset to a total limit of $2,000.
According to "Welfare Reform: Finding the Bridge from Dream to Reality – State Welfare Reform Demonstration Projects," by the National Association of Welfare Research and Statistics, 18 states have increased vehicle asset limits under their state welfare reform demonstrations. The values range from the exclusion of a vehicle to $8,150.
Virginia has a transportation matching organization called Ridefinders which operate in the Greater Richmond area and offers a computerized demand mapping and analysis technique that can map client’s home addresses, day care facilities, and employment locations to identify both existing transportation services and gaps in services. Contact Mr. Jennings, Executive Director, Ridefinders, 804/643-7433.
Idaho’s Interagency Working Group, in collaboration with public transit providers, are transforming transportation service information system into a management information system that will help establish a complete picture of public transportation capital and operations in Idaho.
Michigan’s Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) gives riders a ride from the bus stop to their place of employment as well as provides those new to the work force one-month of free service. The Urban and Public Transportation (UPTRAN) program has provided vehicles to counties to help provide flexibility to clients traveling to work, child care and off- and extended-hour jobs. Contact Dan Dirks, Assistant Director of SMART, 313/223-2309.
North Carolina is studying how its systems can focus on community transportation for those working non-conventional hours. They looked at rural vanpooling and employer incentives. They have in the past provided transportation for JOBS and Smart Start. Contact Kathy McGee, Department of Social Services 919/733-2873.
For Florida information, contact Jo Ann Hutchinson, Executive Director of Florida Commission for the Transportation Disadvantaged, 800/983-2435.
Missouri’s Pemiscot Transportation is a cooperative agreement between the Southeast Missouri Private Industry Council and Pemiscot Progressive Industries to provide door-to-door transportation for Job Training Partnership Act clients attending the local vocational school and the SPIRALS job program. A bus picks up participants and their children and transports them to training and day care on the vocational school campus. Contact Angela White, SPIRALS Job Program, 573/748-7637.
Maryland has hired a consultant to evaluate existing coordination efforts and develop a "how-to" manual that will be used state-wide in organizing coordinated transportation systems.
According to Plain Deal, Big Sandy Area Development District in Kentucky is working with state agencies and charities to secure auctioned or donated cars for job-ready welfare recipients, who then can pool with others in similar straits. Kentucky is also helping people move to where jobs are. A new program allows for a one-time payment of up to $900 to rent a moving van, pay a security deposit or lease a new apartment, or even hook up utilities. Recipients must have a verified offer of employment that pays at least 30 hours a week at minimum wage.
Work In Progress
Improved coordination of transportation services can help communities reduce duplication, enhance service quality and increase cost-effectiveness. A number of new national initiatives to support efforts to increase coordination and collaboration have been proposed or are already underway.
Access to Jobs Initiative would provide support for efforts to improve welfare transportation planning. Authorizing legislation and appropriations are included in the FY 1998 budget and in NEXTEA. Eligible activities would include planning, coordination of mass transportation, operating and capital assistance for new transportation, promoting employer-provided transportation, developing finance strategies, and project administration. Projects would require 50 percent match funds and the development of a coordinated transportation and human services planning process. Contact Doug Birnie, Federal Transit Administration, 202/366-1666.
Building Community Ownership, "A Model of Public-Private Partnerships for Welfare Reform and Transportation Coordination In America," is a publication by the Community Transportation Association of America. It looks at a model that addresses issues such as community employment needs, candidate employability, skill-based job training, day care availability and the existing lack of a supporting transportation network. It emphasizes the importance of coordinating transportation services. The Community Transportation Association of America will provide technical assistance for constructing these programs. Contact Charlie Dickson, Associate Director, Community Transportation Association of America, 202/628.1480.
The National Governors’ Association, in cooperation with the Federal Transit Administration, will provide several states with $10,000 grants and others with $5,000 grants that will be used for transportation coordination strategies. The National Governors’ Association will document the key elements of the demonstration planning process and the major issues associated with the design and implementation of a transportation coordination strategy. Contact Tom Rubel, National Governors’ Association, 202/624-5300.
The National Conference of State Legislatures is publishing "Getting to Work – Providing Transportation in a Work Based System." The publication will cover the following questions: what are the barriers to transportation and how will states provide transportation assistance to recipients to enable them to participate in employment or work activities; how will states develop creative strategies to target the wide range of transportation barriers facing recipients; how can states utilize case management approaches; how will states treat a lack of transportation when considering a recipient’s non-compliance in work activities; and how can states use TANF flexibility to provide transportation assistance? Contact Dana Reichert, NCSL, 303/894-3191.
Presidential Executive Order – The National Transportation Consortium of States has recommended that the president issue an executive order creating a formal Federal Transportation Coordination Council that includes all federal agencies providing, using or having programs that contribute to the development of access and mobility for human services. The Council would promote strategies that increase the efficiency and effectiveness of resources used for access and mobility and provide a structure for interagency communication in the development of block grant guidelines affecting access and mobility for citizens. For the Federal Actions to Improve Access and Mobility Services Provided by Federal Transportation and Human Service Programs Proposal for Executive Order by the President of the United States, contact Lee Alexander, National Transportation Consortium of States, 205/870-1174.
The Community Transportation Assistance Project (CTAP), funded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and administered by the Community Transportation Association of America, aims to improve access for those who do not or cannot drive or who cannot afford a car. CTAP also support the National Transit Resource Center, a national clearinghouse on transportation issues and answers. Contact Scott Bogren, Community Transportation Association of America, 202/628-1480.
The United States Department of Health and Human Services’ (DHHS) Administration for Children and Families (ACF) plans to ask their regional offices for transportation best practices. The administration plans on developing a paper that will be disseminated to state welfare directors/TANF directors promoting best practices and encouraging the development of additional initiatives and approaches. This document will be put on the Administration’s web site. Contact Paul Mieres, Administration on Children, Youth and Families, 202/401-5438.
A Joint DHHS/U.S. Department of Transportation Coordinating Council on Human Services Transportation has formed a task force to coordinate related programs at the federal level and promote coordination at the state and local level. Contact Dianne McSwain, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 202/401-5926.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development is engaged in a variety of job linkage strategies, including: using portable tenant-based rental assistance that will allow families to move closer to where the jobs are; working with school-to-work initiatives; and mounting a "move to work" demonstration in conjunction with the Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation, which will work in public housing communities to link people to training and job programs, in conjunction with changing public housing rules. Contact Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation, 212/532-3200.
For More Information . . .
RESOURCE CONTACTS
American Public Transit Association, Washington, DC. Contact Amy Koggin, 202/898-4000.
Center for Urban Poverty and Social Change, Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Cleveland, OH. Contact Neil Bania, 216/368-6946.
Community Transportation Association of America, Washington DC. Contact Charlie Dixon, Associate Director, and Scott Bogran, Associate Director of Communication, 202/628-1480.
Federal Transit Administration, Washington, DC. Contact Doug Birnie, 202/366-1666.
National Governors’ Association, Washington, DC. Contact Thom Rubel, Director of Transportation Research, 202/624-5300.
National Transit Resource Center, National Hotline, 800/527-8279.
National Transportation Consortium of States, Nashville, TN. Contact Lee Alexander, 202/870-1174.
Public/Private Ventures, Philadelphia, PA. Contact Mark Hughes, Vice President 215/557-4400.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Administration for Children and Families, Washington, DC. Contact Paul Maiers, 202/401-5438.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Washington, DC. Contact Diane McSwain, 202/401-5926.
For State Resource Contacts, see Appendix B of "People JOBS & Transportation," the Community Transportation Association of America, Washington DC. Contact 202/628-1480 or www.ctaa.org.
PUBLICATIONS
America Public Works. "Successes, Products, Services and Contacts Rural Transit Assistance Program at Work: A State by State Survey of 1994." 800/527-8279.
Breed, Allen. "Solving Problems One Trip at a Time." The Plain Dealer. February 19, 1997.
Center for Urban Poverty and Social Change, Mandel School of Applied Social Science, Case Western Reserve University. 216/368-6946.
Leete, Laura, and Neil Bania. "Assessment of the Geographic Distribution and Skill Requirements of Jobs in the Cleveland-Akron Metropolitan Area." July 24, 1995. Leet, Laura, and Neil Bania. "The Impact of Welfare Reform on Local Labor Markets
Leete, Laura, and Neil Bania. "Assessment of the Geographic Distribution and Skill Requirements of Jobs in the Cleveland-Akron Metropolitan Area." July 24, 1995.
Coulton, Claudia, Nandita Verma, Shenyang Guo, Carmen Griffey, and Edward Wang. "Time Limited Welfare and the Employment Prospects of AFDC Recipients in Cuyahoga County." December 1996.
Chi, Keon. "Solutions Policy Options for State Decision-Makers." The Council of State Governments, Center for State Trends and Innovations. April 1997.
Community Transportation Association of America. 202/628-1480.
"People JOBS & Transportation: The First National Conference on Employment and Transportation," October, 1996. "Community Transportation Reporter:" November 1993, Vol. 13, No. 7; November 1995, Vol. 18, No. 8; April 1996, Vol. 14, No. 3; November 1996, Vol. 14, No. 8; and January 1997, Vol. 15, No.1.
"People JOBS & Transportation: The First National Conference on Employment and Transportation," October, 1996.
"Community Transportation Reporter:" November 1993, Vol. 13, No. 7; November 1995, Vol. 18, No. 8; April 1996, Vol. 14, No. 3; November 1996, Vol. 14, No. 8; and January 1997, Vol. 15, No.1.
Hayes, Elizabeth, and Jon Burkhardt. "Innovative State Medicaid Transportation Programs." Ecosometrics, Incorporated. March 15, 1995. 301/652-2414.
Hughes, Mark, and Julie Sternberg. "The New Metropolitan Reality: Where the Rubber Meets the Road in Antipoverty Policy." Public Finance and Housing Center, Urban Institute. December 1992.
Hughes, Mark. "Over the Horizon: Jobs in the Suburbs of Major Metropolitan Areas." Public/Private Ventures. December 1993.
Hughes, Mark. "Bridges to Work: Linking Inner-City Neighborhoods to Metropolitan-Wide Opportunities." Public/Private Ventures.
Human Services Research & Design Laboratory, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Social Work. "North Carolina JOBS Evaluation." September 1991.
Lazaro, Ream. "Building Community Ownership: A Model of Public-Private Partnerships for Welfare Reform and Transportation Coordination in America."
Moss-Adams LLP. "Federal Transit Administration Region 10 Baseline Transportation Coordination Study: Final Report." October 1996. 206/223-1820.
National Transit Resource Center, Community Transportation Association of America. "Community Solutions: Moving Toward Independence." Winter 1995.
Pauly, Edward, and Cristina DiMeo. "The JOBS Evaluation: Adult Education for People on AFDC: A Synthesis of Research." Manpower Demonstration Research Corporation. December 1995.
Stanfield, Rochelle. "The Reverse Commute." National Journal. November 23, 1996, Vol. 28, No. 47, Pages 2525-2576.
