Document Type

Conference Paper

Publication Date

1998

Subject Area

Location - USA, Population - Unemployed, Transport accessibility - Access to services, Transport policy - Transport disadvantage

Abstract

This report is a summary of the proceedings of a conference on transportation and welfare reform held at the University of California, Los Angeles March 1998. Interest in the transportation barriers facing welfare receipients has been sparked by the passage of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunities Reconciliation Act of 1996 and the creation of temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF). With its emphasis on reducing the welfare rolls, the new legislation mandates state welfare agencies to establish programs to transition recipients into the labour market or else risk dramatic increases in poverty. Access to transportation - either automobiles or public transit - affects welfare recipients' ability to find and retain employment. Yet, very little is known about the relationship between transportation and welfare usage. The purpose of the conference was to bring together individuals from multiple perspectives, disciplinary backgrounds and institutional settings to examine scholarly research on the relationship between welfare usage and transportation; report on successful transportation demonstration projects that serve unemployed and underemployed individuals; and establish a network of transit planners, scholars, and human service administrators interested in the relationship between transportation and welfare reform.