Filing the gaps.

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 in nearby cities, but ridership would be open to anyone as long as welfare recipients are among the riders.

A LOT CAN BE DONE

To qualify for funds under TEA-21, projects can include almost anything as long as they are focused on transit - buses, vans, shuttles or trains. Some states have already developed programs that provide good examples of what can be done. Look at:

* The Connecticut Department of Social Services' feeder bus that connects people to transit hubs or from such hubs to job sites where public transportation does not go.

* The dispatch systems in Michigan and Oregon that match clients with available transit services. Clients can make reservations and find out what's available. Volunteer drivers in Oregon provide temporary and emergency rides.

* Vanpools and shuttle buses that provide round-trip transportation services in various programs around the country to rural residents who find jobs in cities.

* The entrepreneur program, AdVANtage, in Maryland that helps welfare recipients start their own transportation businesses. Currently, recipients are running a handful of new shuttle buses and vans that are taking other low-income people to work.

Projects also can be developed to promote the use of transit. One idea is to market employer-sponsored transportation like the transit benefit program. It gives a tax credit to employers who give monthly bus passes to their employees. Other employer-sponsored programs include the use of company vans or shuttles to pick up workers.

The $10 million for reverse commuting will go to projects that get urban residents to work in the suburbs. This is an opportunity to develop services benefiting more than just low-income people. Several current demonstration projects show promise. The Bridges to Work program in Denver connects workers with higher paying jobs in suburban areas by providing bus service to and from the inner city. Participants receive 18 months of free transportation if they get jobs in the suburbs. They are also guaranteed a ride home in case of an emergency. "People in this program are earning starting wages of $2 to $3 higher than jobs found in the city, and these jobs tend to be career oriented with a much better opportunity for advancement," says Mandi Huser, project coordinator. She says there also is hope that the program will prove to the area's regional transportation district that there is ridership for routes to suburban employment.

Another project under way in Minnesota uses an annual job fair to solicit workers for suburban businesses. A reverse commute shuttle transports people to these jobs.

STARTING THE PROCESS

Planning and coordination are the keys to getting projects approved for these funds. Applicants need to consult with both transportation and human services agencies to develop a comprehensive and regional approach.

Grants cannot be used for planning; that has to be done ahead. In areas where transit agencies and human service agencies do not routinely communicate, this may be a daunting task. But these groups serve a largely identical population, and the plan presented in TEA-21 is that they each tap the expertise of the other.

Again, there are examples of this sort of collaboration already going on in a few states. New Jersey, Kentucky and Ohio have established work groups that bring together transportation planning organizations, local transit providers, social service agencies, state and local government and local businesses to discuss the best way to provide transportation for their low-income residents. Kentucky has a brokerage system that guarantees transportation for recipients and will provide rides according to individuals' situations. In Ohio, counties are submitting plans on how best to provide transportation services to welfare recipients.

States should do a self-inventory to decide what will best serve their population, as well as determine who currently provides transportation. Many providers may not know they are in the transportation business - civic organizations and local churches often operate vans or shuttles that could be used to transport low-income workers or others. Developing new services or filling gaps will be easier once everyone has a clear picture of where to start.

LEGISLATORS CAN SPEAK UP

There are still decisions to be made on how to implement this part of TEA-21 and legislators and agency heads can have their say in public outreach programs being conducted by the Federal Transit Authority. To find out how, call Doug Birnie at the Federal Transit Administration [phone] or visit FTA's Web site www.fta.gov/wtw/.

"It is important that as we move to implement this new program we do it right. I hope that legislators who have helped craft state welfare reform programs will give us their thoughts and advice," says Linton. Legislators continue to oversee much of the monitoring and evaluation of welfare reform's progress and have a stake in anything that will help move recipients and low-income families toward self-sufficiency. Legislatures maintain control of TANF expenditures and need to be consulted if job access plans consider using this money.

ANOTHER STEP FORWARD

Job access projects and reverse commute projects will not meet the transit needs of all welfare recipients or low-income people, nor are they intended to. The TEA-21 grants are designed to help policymakers fill gaps left by public transit. For legislators continually looking for ways to use welfare money for new projects, it's another way to help link people to payrolls instead of welfare rolls.

Dana Reichert tracks welfare reform issues for NCSL.