Developing Transportation Alternatives for Welfare Recipients Moving to Work

The federal Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 requires that welfare recipients must find some work within 2 years of receiving welfare benefits or lose them. In Atlanta, Georgia, welfare recipients generally live in neighborhoods that are far removed from the majority of appropriate entry-level jobs. We wanted to help craft a solution to that problem. Our own work evolved through three stages. First we reviewed the research literature on spatial mismatch and the preliminary results of mobility demonstration programs elsewhere. Next we completed a spatial analysis of Atlanta's welfare recipients and entry-level jobs. And finally we designed a detailed list of projects. The final product was a successful proposal for $2 million in funding from the Jobs Access and Reverse Commute (JA/RC) grant program, authorized under PL 105-178, Section 3037 of the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21). Our technical data analysis capability allowed us to assume the role of initiators and organizers of the process despite the political hurdles. In this article, we review each stage in turn and speculate on the project's likely long-run success.