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Access to Jobs - Transportation Challenges in Welfare to Work

The Access to Jobs Study (April 17, 2000) studied the difficulties of persons on welfare have finding transportation to get to jobs. It found that nearly half of persons on welfare live in the center cities while most entry-level jobs are in the suburbs. Most individuals on welfare do not own automobiles and thus are dependent on transit. The transit system is not able to efficiently bring these persons out to these jobs because of jobs in the suburbs are not clustered near each other. There is also a lack of funding to provide high frequency service to areas that will have low ridership because destinations are not clustered. Compounding this problem is that many entry-level jobs have evening, night, or irregular hours.

Persons Receiving Welfare Are Clustered In the Two Core Cities

An analysis of the location of homes of persons on welfare shows that over half live in concentrations in the region's two core cities. The rest of these individuals are scattered throughout the region.

Most Entry-Level Jobs are in the Suburbs

Over 70% of entry-level jobs are in the suburbs. These jobs are not clustered but are scattered throughout the region or strung along freeways. Many are in the outer suburbs.

Most people on welfare need to commute some distance to get to employment.

Because over half of welfare recipients are in the center cities and most entry-level jobs are in the suburbs, most person on welfare need to commute to find employment.

Most Persons Receiving Welfare Do Not Own Cars

Most persons on welfare do not have access to a car for the commute to work. This means that they are dependent on some form of transit to get to jobs.

There are Few High Frequency Bus Routes in the Suburban Areas

Persons looking for jobs have a relatively easy time obtaining transit to the downtowns in the central cities. This is because the high density of businesses makes conventional bus service economical.

Given the current level of funding for transit, there are not funds to provide high frequency service to low density areas. In areas where businesses are not clustered, only a low level of transit service can be provided. The result is that many suburban job locations do not have good transit options for employees.

High frequency" is defined as 30 minutes or less between buses throughout the day.

Many Entry-Level Jobs Are Not Accessible in a Reasonable Amount of Time Via High-Frequency Routes

Many entry-level jobs are not accessible by high-frequency bus routes, thus limiting the persons who can obtain these jobs. This makes the transition from welfare to employment much more difficult.

Many entry-level jobs have variable start times, evening hours, or night hours. Often transit service does not run late enough or early enough or frequently enough during the day to bring people to these jobs.