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5. COMPENDIUM OF PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION
PRACTICES TO ADDRESS IMMOBILITY
This Compendium presents 53 brief summaries of best practices to address
immobility. It supplements the 11 in-depth practices in Appendix A which were
case studies of this research. The practices are organized according to the type of
immobility problem they are trying to solve or the mobility needs of a particular
clientele to whom they are directed. It is recognized that his typography is
imprecise, because many of the practices overlap in their objectives.
COMPENDIUM ORGANIZATION
Access to Jobs
Filling Mobility Gaps
Coordination with Health and Herman Services
Elderly Services
Youth Services
Transit Oriented Development
Vehicle Programs
Access to Jobs is presented first because welfare redo- is a "front-burner"
issue throughout this research period, resulting in a wide range of very current
practices focused on solutions to unemployment. On the other hand, there is an
entire body of information on services for the frail elderly mandated by the
Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) that already exists. Therefore, rather than
repeat existing research , this Compendium presents some non-ADA practices
directed at the elderly. Many of the practices in Filling Mobility Gaps also benefit
the elderly but are primarily ways of making existing public transportation more
useable for the general public. Similarly, practices in the section on Coordination
could also be placed in the Filling Mobility Gaps section, but are called out
separately for their emphasis on collaborating with health and human service
agencies. Youth Services illustrates several innovative public and private sector
practices that respond to mobility problems of children when parents are working,
and the Transit Oriented Development section describes some long-range solutions
to immobility.
.
ACCESS TO JOBS
New demands on public transportation have occurred because of two societal
changes, in particular:
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· the movement of jobs from the central city to the suburbs, causing a mismatch
between residential and employment locations; and
the federal welfare reform measures passed by Congress in 1996, mandating
increased participation in the workforce by many who live in rural or inner city
areas far from the suburban jobs.
One result is the many public transportation programs targeted at improving
access to jobs. This section highlights 27 of those programs, ranging from
comprehensive, federally-funded practices to practices undertaken in individual
communities across the country. It describes programs designed to take inner city
workers to the suburbs; use of school buses as a pervasive transportation mode
available in rural areas; special services to get people to job interviews and to shift
work; and programs using vanpools.
Reverse Community Services
Bridges to Work
Bridges to Work is one of the most systematically organized employment
partnerships. The design is based on collaborative planning with job training and
placement organizations, transportation providers, community-based organizations,
human services agencies, and regional planning institutions. The program,
administered jointly by the nonprofit Public/Private Ventures (P/PV), and the U. S.
Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), consists of:
Metropolitan Placemerz! to help inner-city residents locate job openings,
particularly in the suburbs;
Targeted Commute to connect inner-city residents to previously inaccessible
employment locations; and
Support Services to mitigate demands created by a commute to distant job
locations, including extended child-care arrangements, a guaranteed ride home
in an emergency, and conflict resolution with co-workers.
Total funding is $17 million over 4 years~anuary, 1997 through December,
2000. HUD is providing $S million for operations with $3 million from the five
competitively-selected communities: Baltimore, Chicago, Denver, Milwaukee,
Philadelphia, and St. Louis. HUD and three foundations will contribute $6 million
for monitoring, research and evaluation. To test the Bridges to Work design, in all
the sites except Chicago, half of the applicants will receive the integrated services
described above; the other half will receive only the normal services available in the
community.
Each commuriity has designed a program specific to its needs: (53)
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Ballimore
Vanpools operated by a private company take residents from the East
Baltimore Empowerment Zone, which includes more than 600 units of public
housing, to the suburban Baltimore-Washington International Airport, which has
nearly 1/3 of all jobs in the Baltimore region.
Chicago
PACE Suburban Bus Company provides express bus service and vanpools to
the O'Hare Airport industrial complex and adjacent suburbs from Chicago's West
Side and South Side, which includes 9,500 public housing units.
Denver
Participants in a section of Denver's Enterprise Zone and in Old Aurora use
free monthly passes to ride express buses, circulator vans and vanpools operated by
the Regional Transportation District to the Denver Technological Center, which has
the fastest overall industrial and business development growth in the region.
Milwaukee
Near-direct bus or van services with strategic origin and destination sites are
provided by private contractors to residents of Milwaukee's north, south, and
central neighborhoods. The Washington and Waukesha County destinations are
both high-growth areas and rich sources for difficult-to-fill, entry level jobs within
reasonable commuting distances.
St. Louis
The public operator, the Bi-State Development Agency, uses fixed route and
express buses, augmented by circulator vans provided by the American Red Cross,
to take residents of north St. Louis and St. Louis County to jobs at the Spirit of St.
Louis Airport and surrounding developments in west St. Louis.
Other Reverse Commute', Services Central City to Suburbs
SEPTAs Shuttle Pennsylvania
Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority's Horsham Breeze
Shuttle meets buses from downtown Philadelphia to connect to suburban
employment centers with major employers, such as UPS and Prudential. Extended
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hours of service are paid for by employers, and the county funds midday service.
See Appendix A for the complete case study.
Accessible Services. Inc.. Pennsylvania
Accessible Services, Inc., (ASI) is a private reverse commute service which
operates in and around Philadelphia. The service is funded by the Federal Transit
Administration's Regional Mobility Program Entrepreneurial Services Program
(ESP). ASI began with one of the first ESP challenge grants in 1988. After initial
failure, the program was substantially redesigned. ASI developed its own network
of community based groups and institutions to identify low-skilled, unemployed
individuals who were good candidates for continued employment. As of 1992, the
program was operating successfully as a broker for the Job Relay System,
contracting with various carriers, including a social service transportation system
which uses federally-funded paratransit vehicles, to provide reverse commute
services. The cost per vehicle service hour allowed ASI to break even with five
passengers per one-way trip. (64)
Wisconsin's JOB-RIDE Program
The Wisconsin Department of Transportation developed the JOB-RIDE
Program to subsidize access to suburban jobs for inner city and minority residents
in an attempt to reduce welfare dependency and to alleviate suburban employee
shortages in Milwaukee. The program brines together employers and private
. . · . .
. _
organizations serving me unemployed. Initially, it funds private, non-profit
organizations which provide job development, training, and placement services to
obtain or provide transportation alternatives where conventional public transit
would be inefficient. Between January 1989 and December 1990 JOB-RIDE filled
1,440 permanent and 598 temporary jobs. During its eight-year tern, it provided
more than 72,000 trips to work. (55)
Destination Jobs. Minnesota
In 1990, the City of Minneapolis funded Loring Nicollet-Bethlehem
Community Centers, Inc. to operate a van to the suburbs in order to broaden
employment opportunities for inner city individuals. This community-based agency
linked with Preferred Products, Inc., an employer located in Chaska, a suburb of the
metropolitan Twin Cities, which was having problems finding workers for its jobs.
In the face of interest by other employers, the Eden Prairie Chamber of Commerce
formed a Reverse Commute Committee to develop a more comprehensive
transportation solution and to sponsor a Job Fair. One result is the Reserve-a-Ride
Service instituted by Suburban Transit Authority, the public transit provider.
Express buses pick up riders in the city and drop them at a suburban transit hub.
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Riders who make reservations are then transported by a dial-a-ride shuttle bus to
their place of employment. (56)
Accel Transportation. Illinois
Accel Transportation is looked upon as one of the most successful programs
sponsored by the National Center for Neighborhood Enterprise (NONE), a national
non-profit organization. Accel is a transportation service owned and operated by a
subsidiary of the LeClaire Courts Resident Management Corporation, which
manages LeClaire Courts, a Chicago public housing project with 3,600 residents.
The transportation system serves residents of LeClaire Courts who do not own cars
and need transportation to jobs in other parts of the city. Accel has formed a
partnership with the Chicago Institute for Economic Development to provide job
training, child care and placement services with employers in suburban DuPage
County whose facilities are not accessible by public transit. The transportation
system operates five 20-passenger vans and serves nighttime shift workers as well
as regular daytime employees. Accel carries about 150 riders.
Fares in 1992 were $6 a day and supplied 45-50% of the revenues. In
addition to riders, participating employers and philanthropic organizations
contribute to the fare revenue. Riders are primarily women and African Americans
working as nurses' aides, in restaurants, or in hotels. They can earn $~.50-2 per
hour more in these suburban jobs than at comparable jobs in the city. (57)
Route 1 "Carnegie" Corridor New Jersey
The Route ~ "Carnegie" Corridor in Mercer County, New Jersey, is an
employment concentration located near but not at a commuter rail station along a
high speed line serving New York, Newark, and Philadelphia. The area, located 1.4
miles from the Princeton Junction commuter rail station, includes both residential
and campus style office parks, which are part of the rapid office growth in
Princeton.
The area's developer began the Carnegie Hall shuttle service to enhance the
attractiveness of the Carnegie Center and originally paid all of the costs. The
service was free to employers. As of 1992, employees rode the shuttle free while
local residents paid. Service ran from 6 to 10 a.m. and from 3 to 6 p.m. on a 25-
minute headway, meeting all outbound trains.
The Carnegie Hall shuttle service successfully serves multiple markets. The
Carnegie Center also includes 550 medium density units which generate traditional
suburban-to-center-city commuter rail ridership to New York and Philadelphia; this
ridership accounts for nearly 60% of total daily ridership. A 1991 study by
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Marchwinski and Fittante found that 75% of riders to Carnegie Center were reverse
commuters who traveled an average of 28.5 miles. (58)
The Gateway Shuttle California
The Multi-City Transportation Systems Management Agency (MTSMA), a
joint powers agency of eight California cities in northern San Mateo County,
securer! a $196,900 grant from the Bay Area Air Quality Management District to
consolidate six private shuttles operated by suburban employment sites into a
system of three shuttles from the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) commuter rail
and CalTrain. The existing private shuttles often overlapped shuttle schedules,
experienced low productivity of less than six passengers per hour, and averaged
about $4 per passenger trip.
The most successful of these shuttles is the Gateway Shuttle, a partnership
between Genentech, a 2,000 employee biomedical firm, and Homart, a property
management Finn with a large suburban office complex housing 2,500 employees.
Both sites are located east of the freeway and have no public transit service. The
grant enabled MTSMA to consolidate the existing private shuttles, adding service
from the Glen Park BART Station for Homart, and increasing headways to 20
minutes from BART and 30 minutes from CalTrain. Average monthly ridership on
the two shuttles is now 5,100 passengers on the BAIT shuttle and 2,200 passengers
on the CalTrain shuttle. Although the free shuttles were originally designed as a
commute alternative strategy for all employees, the direct connection to BART
provides convenient access to a significant suburban employment site for inner city
workers in San Francisco and Oakland. (59)
School Buses for Welfare-to-Work Progran~s
School Buses for North Carolina's Work First Participants
The North Carolina Board of Education and the Department of Public
Instruction passed a resolution in May, 1997 allowing adults in Work First, the
state's welfare reform program, to ride school buses. Since 80-90% of the Work
First purchased services in rural areas noes to transportation. the resolution was
~ A. ~ . ~ ~ ~ ~ .
drafted to respond tO thlS mobility challenge. In exchange for the ride, adult
passengers must serve as bus monitors. Adults then disembark at the school to go
to jobs or to transfer to another vehicle. Regional consultants provide technical
assistance to local school boards and social service agencies to set up the school bus
transportation program. (60)
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Private Industry Council. East Tennessee
The East Tennessee Private Industry Council convinced the school board in
rural Roane County to allow parents who are enrolled in training and education to
ride school buses. The school board is paid $4.22 a day per person. The school
board reserved the right to refuse someone with a violent history and prohibits
adults on buses with small children. Because the transportation is education-
related, insurance is not a problem. Partly because of such creative transportation
solutions, the welfare rolls have dropped approximately 60% in East Tennessee.
(61)
Glendale-Azalea School District and Skills Center Transportation. Oregon
See JOBLINKS programs below.
Chesterfield County Coordinating Council. South Carolina
See the case study in Appendix A.
Rachel's Bus Company. Illinois
This example is not one of using school bus service as transportation for
welfare recipients, but rather as a source of jobs for people leaving the welfare roles.
Rachel's Bus Company in Chicago, Illinois provides bus service under contracts
with public and private schools. It employs 150 full and part time workers as
drivers, mechanics and office workers. Drivers are recruited at welfare offices and
job fairs. As high as 40% of the workforce have been welfare recipients. To provide
transportation to their jobs at Rachel's Bus Company, three free shuttles start at 5
a.m. picking up employees and transporting them to headquarters. The shuttles
return employees home about 5:30 p.m. Single parents are scheduled on routes to
schools that their children attend to avoid the need for before and after school child
care. (62)
Joblinks
Community Transportation Association of America (CTAA) administers
JOBLINKS, a series of demonstration projects testing various means of providing
. - . ~ · ~· ~ · · ~
_
transportation so cl~saclvanragea ~na~v~aua~s or those undeserved by public transit-
particularly welfare recipients transitioning to self-suff~ciency. The motto of
JOBI,INKS, which is funded by the Federal Transit Administration, is "Connecting
People to the Workplace." Summaries of three of the ten projects funded in 1995-96
are presented here. The remaining seven projects were in Fresno, California;
Portland, Oregon; Blytheville, Arkansas, Seven Counties in Southeast Kentucky;
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Cabarrus County, North Carolina; Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan; and Detroit,
Michigan.
Glendale-Azalea School District and Skills Center Transportation Oregon
About the same time two lumber mills in this rural area of southern Oregon
closed in 1993, the Glendale-Azalea School District established a Skills Center. The
Skills Center works in partnership with social service agencies to assist families
with children having behavioral problems. When 600 workers were laid off from
the lumber mills, the Skills Center established a transportation system to get these
displaced parents to the Center for job re-training, to obtain their high school
Graduate Equivalency Degree (GED), and to connect them to mental health,
counseling, and unemployment assistance. Child care is also provided at the Skills
Center.
The system is comprised of three components:
Gas Vouchers: Assistance for those volunteering to provide carpools.
School Buses: Adults are picked up at school bus stops along with pupils. The
grant pays for mileage and driver time whenever the school bus must deviate off
the route for a pickup. The school district covers about an 80-mile radius.
Volunteer Drivers/Ridematching: Those living too far from a bus stop can get
trips from volunteer drivers, who are paid 29 cents a mile. This program was
merged with a program to provide medical trips paid for by the State. The
school district has accepted financial responsibility for dispatching both medical
and employment carpools.
In its first eight months of operation, 350 individuals, or 6% of the entire
service area population, had received transportation assistance. A sample of 115
different riders found that 21% found employment and 9% completed their
GEDs.~63)
Louisville Express Route Increases Job Access
The Kentuckiana Regional Planning and Development Agency (KIPDA)
teamed with the Transit Authority of River City (TARC) in Louisville, Kentucky to
develop a new express route from West Louisville, an area of high unemployment,
to the Bluegrass Industrial Park on the suburban east side of the city. A 40-minute
express bus ride replaces what had been a trip of two to three hours on other TARC
routes. To publicize the new route, KIPDA worked with employers and a coalition
of community-based organizations, which provide job training, employment
assistance and homeless services. The project's goal is to prove the importance of
transportation in helping people obtain and maintain employment. tb4J
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Southeast Arkansas Transportation
To facilitate access to programs and services, the Area Agency on Aging of
Southeast Arkansas (AAASEA) began providing transportation for senior citizens in
the 1970s. In 1993, the AAASEA created Southeast Arkansas Transportation
(SEAT), the rural public transportation provider in Southeastern Arkansas, which
serves 13 counties using 100 vehicles.
With the assistance of the JOBLINKs grant, SEAT was able to successfully
demonstrate interlining of senior center and job training trips in rural Peterson
County. This interlining of trips has now been incorporated into SEAT operations
on a systemwide basis. Jefferson County, with Pine Bluff as the County seat, has a
population of 85,000 spread over 880 square miles. Many residents live in small
communities that are 10-15 miles from services. The average annual income is
$12,000, and approximately 60% have incomes below the poverty level. When Pine
Blue Transit (the public transit provider in the town of Pine Bluff) had to reduce
services at the same time that the State Department of Human Services (DHS) was
launching its job training program, SEAT began getting calls about transportation
needs. With the cooperation of DHS staff in Jefferson County, SEAT began using
its senior center vans to transport DHS clients to job training sites prior to 10 a.m.
and after 2 p.m., when the vans were not in use by the senior center. DHS case
workers referred clients to SEAT and paid the $3 round trip fare while the clients
were in training. When these clients get jobs they often continue to ride SEAT to
commute to work. Job training ridership has grown to about 30% of SEAT's
monthly ridership. Four vans were made available only because SEAT was able to
negotiate with the State Department of Corrections to have prisoners rehabilitate
older vans at a very affordable rate.
At its peak, ridership was about 3,500 passenger trips each month.
Operations are funded by federal dollars for rural transportation and by the federal
Older Americans Act. Keys to the ongoing success of the project were the
cooperation of DHS case workers in referring clients to SEAT, SEAT's willingness to
put senior center vans in mixed use, and assistance with start-up costs and
advertising provided by the JOBLINKs grant. At the end of the demonstration
grant, AAASEA continued to operate one van for the welfare-to-work program,
although the demand continues to be greater. (65) (66)
Services for Shift Work
PDRTAs 24-Hour Rural Commute Service. South Carolina
Pee Dee Regional Transportation Authority runs a 24-hour commute service
linking residents in rural South Carolina with entry-level jobs in the tourist
industry at Myrtle Beach. Service operates to meet day and night shims and is
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coordinated with the Marion County Department of Social Services. See Appendix
A for the complete case study.
MAPTs 24-Hour Commuter Service Ohio
Muskingum Authority of Public Transit (MAPT) is a small transit system
with 11 vehicles serving Zanesville, Ohio, a town of 26,000. A major candle
manufacturer with more than 500 employees, located about 12 miles outside of
town in an industrial park, was having difficulty recruiting workers for its
minimum wage positions. Since June 1995, MAPT has contracted with the candle
factory to provide free transportation to its employees. The factory pays a per mile
rate for service, assisted by a large state tax break. Transit service is provided to
all three shifts on two different routes, averaging about 25 passengers per shift per
day. The employee only has to show his or her badge to the driver to ride free. A
recent on-board survey found that five existing passengers would have to go back on
public assistance if the contract transportation service were not provided. (67)
NFTAs Late Night Service. New York
Niagara Frontier Transit Authority in Buffalo, New York operates a request-a-stop
program after 9 p.m. To increase safety for night workers, riders can disembark
anywhere along the route if the bus can safely stop. (68)
Services to Job Training any Job Interviews
Employment Transportation Services. Connecticut
Funded by the Connecticut Department of Transportation (ConnDOT), the
City of Hartford established Employment Transportation Services (ETS), an agency
responsible for planning paratransit services for job interviews and training and
employment programs. Project staff believe that Hartford is one of the first cities
with a strategic approach to the issue of unemployment, recognizing that
transportation is only part of the problem. ETS has contracted for shared-ride taxis
to take inner city residents to job interviews, physical exams, and other social
services and for temporary vanpools.
ETS has initiated transportation services to fill a variety of reverse commute
gaps, including summer employment and after-work training at Bradley airport.
Both the job search and transitional transportation can be initiated by either a non-
profit employment agency or an employer and will be provided within a 25 mile
radius of the City in areas in which neither Connecticut Transit or the Greater
Hartford Transit District operate. Individuals are given free rides to suburban job
interviews or training. Once they are employed or accepted into a long term
training program, they use the vanpool service for up to six months, provided there
are at least four riders going to the same site.
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In 1989, ETS make 24,000 one way trips, providing service to almost 900
Deonle. Manv of the riders had been unemployed for lone periods. and one third of
s- - ,A,~ ~ - · I ~ ~ ,
~ ~ ~ , ~ ~ . ~ , e ~ ~ _-ran id_ ~ ^^ ~ d ·1 ~
riders had been without a Job tor over a year. it; l ~ also otters car-pool matching
services for inner city residents and provides a van purchasing and leasing program
which several employers have utilized. The private contractor provides drivers,
operations staff and vehicle storage while City staff are responsible for
administration, project development and supervision, and performance monitoring.
This service is part of a larger strategy planned by the Welfare to Work
Transportation Access Group of the Capitol Region Council of Governments. The
strategy includes improvements in fixed route bus service, new dial-a-ride services,
vanpooling and guaranteed ride home programs. The transit operator already has
expanded service and extended hours on key routes to employment sites. (69) (70)
Statewide Transportation Brokerage Tennessee
Tennessee's Families First Welfare Program was implemented on
September I, 1996. The new law included a provision that the State of Tennessee
must provide transportation to employment sites. Adults receiving welfare are
responsible for selecting and utilizing appropriate transportation to get to a job
training location, job interviews, and child care as necessary.
Individuals enrolled in job training have the option of receiving:
$5 per day if they can transport themselves.
A gas voucher, equivalent to $25 per week.
Bus tokens.
If none of the above enables a person to get to training, they can utilize
the resources of the transportation broker.
With a short time frame for implementation, the State Department of
Human Services decided to utilize the existing Job Training Partnership Act (]TPA)
contractors as transportation brokers. The state is divided into 14 service delivery
areas; there are 14 corresponding transportation brokerage operations. The
transportation broker system makes use of any provider willing to participate:
urban bus system rural van services, taxis, senior programs, Tern Care Medicaid
~ J 7 _ _ .
transportation, and others. Over the first six months of implementation, only zu
trips could not be accommodated with the statewide brokerage system.
Preliminary program results indicate that 77% of job training participants
took $5, 1% received gas vouchers, 10% received transit tokens, S.5% rode on
subsidized vans, and 3.6% utilized other transportation services. (71)
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care, and Head Start will fund evening meals for children in the after-school
program. (99)
Child Care at Transit Stations California
Transit stations present a logical location for daycare centers. Working
parents can conveniently drop their children off rather than making an additional
trip to the child care location. This accessibility is especially important since
many in-home child care providers are located in low density neighborhoods which
may not have a convenient level of transit service. The Transit Tots West Child
Care Center and depot at the new Chatsworth Metrolink Station is a joint venture
of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority and the City of
Los Angeles. More than five years in the planning, the center opened on April 20,
1996 and is operated by Children's Discoverv Centers of America. Inc.. which runs
~ ~ ~ ~ ·~ ~
more tnan zuo cn~tct care centers nationwide. The center has capacity for 90
children and occupies 5,500 square feet at the depot, with three classrooms and an
outdoor play area. Transit Tots West is open to the public for infant and preschool
care, but priority is given first to mass transit users and second to parents who
carpool. The Chatsworth Center is part of a 14-acre station site that is planned for
future development, to include a park, offices, shops, theaters, and apartment
housing. (100)
TRANSIT ORIENTED DEVELOPMENT
A key finding of this research is that public transportation agencies can
provide leadership in economic development, thereby reducing the costs of
immobility. A number of transit agencies are involved in long-term land use
changes that can have a more permanent impact on economic development. Below
are examples of transit as part of a larger economic development strategy.
Fruitvale BART Transit Village. California
The Bay Area Rapid Transit District will revitalize a rail station in a low-
income neighborhood in Oakland, California. Its partner, the Spanish Speaking
Unity Council, will address immobility by creating a Transit Village at the hub,
which features a mix of social services, retail, and residential uses. See the case
study in Appendix A.
Blue Line TeleVillage. California
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's Blue Line TeleVillage contains
a Telework Center, a computer lab with Internet access, a video conference center,
and interactive kiosks. Residents and employees in Compton, California can access
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many services without the need to travel. The TeleVillage will be part of a one-stop
training center for welfare recipients. See the case study in Appendix A.
Neighborhood Travel Center. Texas
A community based Neighborhood Travel Center in Corpus Christi, Texas
was opened in February 1992 in a small neighborhood shopping district. The
Regional Transit Authority, working with Project for Open Spaces, a national
organization focusing on renewing public places as attractive and useful community
assets, has sought to spruce-up the site with improved pedestrian facilities,
landscaping and public art to attract riders and serve as a small business incubator.
(101)
Broadway Manchester Transit Center. California
Joint development by transit authorities has been primarily around rail
stations. The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority has
allocated funds to plan a Transit Center focused on bus transit in the Broadway-
Manchester neighborhood of South Central :Los Angeles. The Transit Center will be
at the Harbor Transitway, adjacent to a freeway. Preliminary plans call for
improved public access to the Transitway, retail development, public services, and a
child care center. Employment opportunities for local residents is also a goal. The
site is already part of a redevelopment area. (102)
VEHICLE PROGRAMS
The focus of this research has been on public transportation systems, as
defined in the Research Problem statement. (See page 1-~.) This has been
interpreted broadly to include publicly operated rail, bus and light rail systems,
school bus systems; social service agency transportation; paratransit; jitneys;
private bus systems; and taxicabs.
The definition of public transportation could be broadened even further to
include vehicle programs which receive public funding. Two examples of public
transportation agencies which also provide vehicle programs, the Ventura County
Transportation Commission and the Bay Area Rapid Transit District, are cited
below.
State and county social service agencies and community-based organizations
involved in welfare reform have also been devising vehicle programs to assist this
population. Because sometimes a car is the best solution for a transportation
problem, the following includes a sample of vehicle programs that attempt to
overcome the insurance and maintenance obstacles for low-income owners. These
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programs are aimed at providing mobility to welfare recipients until they become
established in the work force.
Ventura Countv~ California
The County will offer low-interest car loans, guaranteed by the county and
financed by the public credit union. Aging fleet cars will be donated by local
businesses and reconditioned by volunteer mechanics. Dealerships will donate free
repairs.
Ventura County Transportation Commission is also designing a Smart Car-
Sharing program for those who have no transit available or where transit would
take more than one hour one-way to work. In this case, people with a driver's
license and a clean driving record can "rent" a new car to go to their destination.
The car may then be picked up and used by another person before it is returned for
the trip home. Car-sharers will be charged for mileage or may be assessed a weekly
fee. A Guaranteed Ride Home program will serve as a back-up if there is a glitch in
the car-sharing schedule.
Bay Area Rapid Transit District (BART). California
BART intends to place rental cars for patrons' use at two of its suburban
stations and to place compressed natural gas Hondas at its newest station. Patrons
will pay a fee to use the cars to travel from these suburban stations to suburban job
sites. The cars could then be available for a fee as pool cars during the day at
employment sites, eliminating the need for companies to invest in a corporate fleet.
Drivers need licenses, proof of insurance and a clean driving record.
Wheels-To-Work North Carolina
Operable cars are sold to persons transitioning Welfare through the
Wheels-To-Work program, a partnership of Forsyth County commissioners, the
Department of Social Services, Goodwill Industries of Northwest North Carolina,
the Winston-Salem Transit Authority, a local auto dealer, and an insurance agency.
Although the Winston-Salem Transit Authority does coordinate carpooling and
vanpooling in the area, it is supportive of Wheels-To-Work, because only those who
do not have access to bus routes to get to work are eligible for the program. The
auto dealer repairs surplus county vehicles, and Goodwill pays the first year's
insurance, repairs, taxes, license, and title fees. Participants can own the car after
the first year by reimbursing Goodwill, which uses the money to fix up another car
for the program.
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Fairfax Virginia
State money is being used to help former welfare recipients make down
payments on used cars, and have the cars inspected and enrolled in routine
maintenance programs.
Vir~nia's Southwestern Counties
The welfare department bought used government vehicles and leased them to
job seekers for about $100 per month, including regular maintenance.
Fond du Lac Countv. Wisconsin
As part of Wisconsin's Work-Not-Welfare demonstration program, low-
interest "job access loans" are made to buy cars or make repairs on existing cars.
Maryland and Texas
These states offer "Wheels to Work" programs that make donated vehicles
available at low cost (usually about $500), and individuals and companies that
donate cars receive a charitable tax deduction.
Contra Costa CountY. California
Contra Costa County in Northern California has developed a Welfare-to-
Work Transportation Action Plan, which includes these additional ideas for vehicle
programs. The County's Social Service Department is exploring policy changes and
funding sources to implement the programs.
Loans or Grants to Remove Barriers to Driving. To enable participants enrolled
in the County's welfare program, or those at risk of becoming a welfare recipient,
to obtain a drivers' license and/or legally operate a car they own, this project
would utilize State diversion funds (for those not yet receiving welfare) or the
County's Transportation Supportive Services funds (for welfare participants) as
follows: loan or grant funds to absent parents to pay child support payments
that are in arrears; loan funds to participants so that they may pay off
outstanding tickets; and provide funds for emergency car repairs needed to get a
vehicle in running condition.
:Low Cost Car Repair and Insurance Resources. Local school, college, and
Regional Occupational Programs (ROP) auto shops will be contacted to offer
reasonable and/or discounted rates on car diagnostic services, repair, and
maintenance to welfare participants with vehicles. Insurance companies and
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insurance pools (such as those for municipalities and transit providers3 will be
surveyed to obtain the lowest possible rates for participants.
Subsidize Emergency Roadside Service Membership. Welfare recipients may
have a vehicle which is unreliable. This program would subsidize welfare
participants' membership in roadside service provider clubs or organizations in
order to obtain emergency roadside assistance and other benefits such as vehicle
diagnostic services. State welfare funds could be used for this purpose.
Loaner Cars. This project would make loaner cars available for welfare
participants to use for transportation to job interviews, to agencies such as the
Department of Motor Vehicles to get necessary licenses, etc. Public agencies'
vehicles or community-based organizations with a pool of vehicles might be
tapped for this purpose.
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CHAPTER REFERENCES
(63) "Bridges to Work Summary and Fact Sheet." See The Welfare Information
Network: Transportation Internet Web Site at hipp://www.welfareinfo.
Org/transport.htm.
(54) Rosenbloom, S., Reverse Commute Transportation; Emerging Provider Roles.
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration
Washington, D.C. (March 19921.
17
(55) Rosenbloom, S., Reverse Commute Transportation; Emerging Provider Roles.
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration,
Washington, D.C. (March 19921.
(56) Destination JOBS, A Summary of the Hennepin County, Minnesota Reverse
Commute Employment Program, Jeffrey S. Hardin, Editor.
(57) Hughes, M. with Sternberg, J., The New Metropolitan Reality: Where the
Rubber Meets the Road in Antipoverty Policy, Public Finance and Housing
Center, The Urban Institute (December 19921.
(58) Marchwinski, T. and Fittante, S. R., "Air Quality and Cost-Revenue Impacts of
Suburban Employment Center Commuter Rail Connector Bus Services." A
paper presented to the 1992 Transportation Research Board Annual Meetings,
Preprint #92040 (August 19911.
(59) Grain & Associates, Shuttle Planning for South San Francisco Employers
Using AB434 Funding, Final Report (1994~.
(60) "The Link to Employment: Case Workers as Mobility Managers," Community
Transportation Association of America (19971. See The Welfare Information
Network: Transportation Internet Web Site at
hipp://www.welfareinfo.org/transport.htm
(61) Miller, J., "Welfare Reform in Rural Areas: A Special Community
Transportation Report" (October 1997~. See The Welfare Information
Network: Transportation Internet Web Site at
hipp://www.welfareinfo.org/transport.htm
(62) Etindi, D., "Rachel's Bus Company" (July 19971. See The Welfare Information
Network: Transportation Internet Web Site at
h~pp://www.welfareinfo.org/transport.htm
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(63) Telephone interview by Crain & Assoc. in June 1996 with Teresa Robinson
and Shawn Brink, Glendale-Azalea School District and Skills Center, Oregon.
Supplementary information from April 1996 article, "Taking People to Work:
dOBLINKS Success Stories," by Robert T. Goble, CTR feature on The Welfare
Information Network: Transportation, Internet Web Site at
htpp://www.welfareinfo.or~/transnort.htm
(64) Goble, R., Staking People to Work: JOBLINKS Success Stories," April, 1996
CTR feature article on The Welfare Information Network: Transportation,
Internet Web Site at htpp://www.welfareinfo.org/transport.htm
(65) Telephone interview by Crain & Associates with Libby Bunting, Southeast
Arkansas Transportation (SEAT), Pine Bluff, Arkansas, Tune 1996.
(66) Supplementary Information from '`~lOBI=INKS Post-Project Analysis: 1995-96
Demonstration Projects," Community Transportation Association of America
(April 1997)
(67) Telephone interview by Crain & Associates, April 1997.
(68) C`Best Practices in Employment Transportation," Community Transportation
Association of America (June 23, 19971.
(69) Rosenbloom, S., Reverse Commute Transportation, Emerging Provider Roles.
U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit Administration,
Washington, D.C. (March 1992) pp. 31-32.
(70) Laube, M., Lyons, W., and vanderWilden, P., Transportation Planning for
Access to Jobs, U.S. Department of Transportation (August 2S, 19971.
(71) Telephone Interview by Crain & Associates, April 1997.
(72) "The Link to Employment: Case Workers as Mobility Managers," Community
Transportation Association of America (19971. See The Welfare Information
Network: Transportation Internet Web Site at
htpp://www.welfareinfo.org/transport.htm
(73) "The Link to Employment: Case Workers as Mobility Managers," Community
Transportation Association of America (1997~. See The Welfare Information
Network: Transportation Internet Web Site at
htpp://www.welfareinfo.org/transport.htm
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(74) Catherine Simpson, Employer Services Administrator, Fort Worth
Transportation Authority, presentation at TCRP Project B-7, "Strategies to
Assist Local Transportation Agencies in Becoming Mobility Managers,"
Roundtable in Orlando, Florida (May 19961.
(75) Crain & Associates, Inc., and Pacific Consulting Group, Strategies to Assist
Local Transportation Agencies in Becoming Mobility Managers.
Transportation Cooperative Research Program Report 2l, Transportation
Research Board, Washington, D.C. (1998~.
(76) Phone interview by Crain & Associates, April 1997.
(77) dOBLINKS Post-Project Analysis, Final Report, Community Transportation
Association of America, Appendix C (April 19971.
(78) Telephone Interview by Crain & Associates, April 1997.
(79) Byrd, R., Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities, Transportation
Planning Assistance. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit
Administration, and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development,
Washington, D.C. (May 3, 19941.
(80) Hughes, M., Fighting Poverty in Cities: Transportation Programs as Bridges to
Opportunity. Research Report on America's Cities, National L.e ague of Cities
Washington, D.C. (1989) pp. 33-40.
(~) Mobility Corporation, in association with KPMG Peat Marwick, Mundle &
Associates, Inc., The Miami Jitneys. Prepared for the Office of Private Sector
Initiatives, Federal Transit Administration, Washington, D.C. (September
19921.
(82) Center for Urban Transportation Research, Jitney Enforcement Strategies.
Metro-Dade Transit Agency, Miami, Florida (June 19941.
(83) Crain & Associates, Inc., and Pacific Consulting Group, Strategies to Assist
Local Transportation Agencies in Becoming Mobility Managers. Transportation
Cooperative Research Program, Report 21, Transportation Research Board,
Washington, D.C. (19981.
(84) Crain & Associates, Inc., and Pacific Consulting Group, Strategies to Assist
Local Transportation Agencies in Becoming Mobility Managers. Transportation
Cooperative Research Program, Report 2l, Transportation Research Board,
Washington, D.C. (19981.
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(85) Crain & Associates, Inc., and Pacific Consulting Group, Strategies to Assist
Local Transportation Agencies in Becoming Mobility Managers. Transportation
Cooperative Research Program, Report 21, Transportation Research Board,
Washington, D.C. (1998).
(86) Hodge, D. C., Orrell, J.D., and Strauss, T. R., Fare-Free Policy: Costs, Impacts
on Transit Service, and Attainment of Transit System Goals, Washington State
Transportation Center (TRAC), University of Washington, Seattle,
Washington (March 1994).
(87) Phone Interview by Crain & Associates, April 1997.
(88) Phone interview with Crain & Associates, April 1997.
(89) Telephone interview by Crain & Associates with Shirley Cummins, Rural
Transit Enterprises Coordinated (RTEC), Mount Vernon, KY, June 1996.
(90) Telephone interview by Crain & Associates with Frank Jones, Daniel Boone
Development Council, Inc., Manchester, KY, June 1996.
(91) C rain & Associates, Inc., and Pacific Consulting Group, Strategies to Assist
local Transportation Agencies in Becoming Mobility Managers. Transportation
Cooperative Research Program, Report 21, Transportation Research Board,
Washington, D.C. (1998).
(92) Interview by C rain & Associates with Ann Smith, Director of the Los Angeles
Department of Aging, June 1996.
(93) "Opening Doors to Travel Training Mobility," Washington State Public
Transportation Conference, August 24, 1995. Presented by Sandy Northrup,
Outreach Coordinator, Link, and Per K. Johnson, Ph.D., Training & Education
Coordinator and Pat Lange, Travel Trainer, Kitsap Transit.
(94) "Travel Training for Seniors, Kitsap Transit," 1995 Washington State
Department of Transportation Conference.
(95) EG&G Dynatrend and Crain & Associates, Inc., Evaluating Transit Operations
for Individuals with Disabilities. Prepared for Transit Cooperative Research
Program, Transportation Research Board, National Research Council,
Washington, D.C. (June 1995).
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(96) Rosenbloom, S. , "Travel by Women," 1990 Nationwide Personal
Transportation Survey, Demographic Special Reports, U.S. Department of
Transportation, Federal Highway Administration, Washington, D.C.
(February 1995).
(97) Telephone interview by Crain & Associates with Joseph All, Kids on Wheels,
January, 1998.
(98) "Awards..." PT! Journal, (May 1995) pp. 6-7.
(99) "Child Care Initiatives Across the Country," Child Care Bulletin, Issue 15,
(May/June 19971.
(100) "Child Care Center Opens at Metrolink Station." Passenger Transport, (May
6, 1996).
(101) Byrd, R., Empowerment Zones and Enterprise Communities, Transportation
Planning Assistance. U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Transit
Administration, and U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development,
Washington, D.C. (May 3, 19941.
(102) Information from Omniversed International, March 1997.
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Representative terms from entire chapter:
child care
