Filing the gaps.

• Author: Reichert, Dana
• Position: Federal transportation aid for welfare recipients and low-income families

Without transportation, low-income families and welfare recipients are stalled on their journey to self-sufficiency. Now, new federal money is available to develop programs to help.

For the poor, the biggest obstacle to getting and holding a job is often how to get there. Few own cars and many live in areas without round-the-clock public transportation. Often, the jobs available to welfare recipients or low-income people are entry-level positions involving work hours that last long after public transit stops running. Or the more promising and higher paying jobs are located in suburbs that don't have bus service.

A program in the new Transportation Equity Act (TEA-21) passed by Congress in May could be just what states need to fill some of the gaps left by public transportation. Currently, the Job Access and Reverse Commute program in the law authorizes $50 million [for this year] of which $10 million is reserved for "reverse commuting" projects. There is a possibility of funding up to $150 million annually for five years. The program makes transit more available to those who need it. Local governments and nonprofits can apply for grants to develop ways to get welfare and low-income families to work or to connect urban residents with suburban employers. U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) money can be used for 50 percent of a project; states and locals have to come up with the rest.

Unlike other federal programs, states can use block grant money from federal Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) or Welfare-to-Work as their share, making it possible to fund such a program almost solely with federal money. To do so won't be easy because both programs require states to spend funds on eligible recipients, and any combination of funds will require a careful examination of exactly how they will be used. But it could be a shot in the arm in helping welfare recipients with transportation problems.

"This program demonstrates a commitment to making sure that state welfare reform programs succeed and that individuals moving from welfare to work can get and keep jobs," says Gordon Linton, Federal Transit Administration administrator.

Although job access funds must be aimed at welfare or low-income populations (low-income is considered to be 150 percent of the federal poverty level), the intent is to serve as many people as possible. For example, a shuttle bus service could be developed to transport welfare recipients in rural areas to jobs...