Welfare-To-Work

Dear Colleague:

As you know, last year's landmark welfare reform legislation has set in motion one of the most significant social changes of this century. The reform of our current welfare system is sure to have a dramatic impact on the livelihood of millions of economically disadvantaged Americans, and on our Nation's general economic productivity and growth.

I am writing, therefore, to urge your close attention to and continuous involvement in the development of welfare reform implementation plans now being crafted by states and localities. If welfare recipients--whose auto ownership rate is only six percent nationally--cannot get to work, then the welfare reform goals of personal responsibility and work opportunity cannot succeed. I firmly believe that transportation is the "to" in "Welfare-to-Work," and that our Nation's public transportation systems will be called upon to provide an economic lifeline to jobs and financial independence for the nearly two million individuals expected to be impacted by welfare reform initiatives.

We know, however, that it is not enough to simply maintain existing services or to allocate subsidies to individuals to assist them in defraying the costs of needed transportation services. Transportation gaps exist. There is an increasing geographic mismatch between the location of entry-level job growth-found largely in our Nation's suburbs--and the inner city neighborhoods where most individuals receiving public assistance reside. In some metropolitan areas, fixed-route transit systems are not serving these suburban job sites; in others, trips by transit require multiple transfers, particularly for single parents who must reach child care facilities as part of their work trip. Many entry-level jobs also involve evening or weekend shift works when transit service is reduced or often nonexistent. The above factors present challenges for traditional transit services.

Consequently, the U.S. Department of Transportation has embarked upon a number of initiatives to assist state and local transportation agencies plan for and provide the innovative, efficient, and customer-friendly services necessary to link economically disadvantaged individuals with job opportunities. The pending legislation of the National Economic Crossroads Transportation Efficiency Act (NEXTEA) proposes a new, $600 million Access to Jobs and Training program which would make available $100 million annually to assist states and localities develop and implement comprehensive employment transportation services (fact sheet attached). Furthermore, in partnership with the National Governor's Association, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) and the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) have launched a pilot program to assist states in developing a transportation component to state welfare reform plans (a list of participating states is attached). In the coming months, FTA and FHWA will disseminate a wide range of technical assistance items to further help our colleagues in the transportation community address the myriad of challenges brought on by welfare reform.

Most essentially, Welfare-to-Work initiatives call for creative solutions that require that collaboration of multiple stakeholders: social service and economic development agencies; businesses and community organizations; and state Departments of Transportation (DOTs), metropolitan planning organizations (MPOs), and public transportation providers. The transportation challenge of welfare reform is great and solutions may vary, but this is a leadership challenge to which the transportation planning and transit industry must respond. As we have seen in Chicago, St. Louis, and Miami (see attachment)--and in dozens of other communities nationwide--innovative partnerships have generated successful strategies and services to provide low income individuals with access to economic opportunities.

We are planning a series of regional meetings in the near future to focus on welfare reform transportation issues. I will be asking FTA Regional Administrators to contact you about these meetings and to seek information on your agency's efforts to support Welfare-to-Work initiatives. Please feel free to contact them, as well, for further assistance as you pursue this important national priority.

Sincerely,
Gordon J. Linton