abstract: 'The impact of the welfare-to-work (WtW) regional public transportation

  program on participants in Chicago, Illinois, is reviewed 3 years after

  an initial study. The regional transportation program provided free

  transit passes and vanpool services to participants during their first 6

  months of employment and training on regional transit options for job

  developers. WtW participants'' travel patterns were noted, social service

  contractors were interviewed, and Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF)

  clients were examined. In 2000, pass use for WtW participants and

  regular 30-day pass users was determined to be almost identical because

  of the strong economy of the late 1990s. Three years later, travel

  patterns suggested that participants were beginning to find employment

  farther from home, many in the job-rich O''Hare Airport corridor, and

  that the costs and benefits of sending low-income workers to distant

  work locations needed to be assessed. Although providing fare subsidies

  that allow low-income workers to take advantage of existing

  infrastructure may be helpful, transportation solutions probably will

  not be enough to make a meaningful and sustained impact. The regional

  transportation program illustrates the need for holistic approaches to

  social policy. The disproportionate level of transit dependency, longer

  travel times, and significantly higher use of public transit in many of

  the Chicago communities that have the highest numbers of TANF clients

  than in the city as a whole point to a serious need for affordable

  housing near job centers in the Chicago region.'
affiliation: 'Hunt, KL (Corresponding Author), Univ Chicago, Harris Sch Publ Policy
  Studies, 5514 S Woodlawn Ave, Chicago, IL 60637 USA.

  Univ Chicago, Harris Sch Publ Policy Studies, Chicago, IL 60637 USA.

  Chicago Transit Author, Serv Planning, Chicago, IL 60607 USA.'
author: Hunt, KL and Czerwinski, J
author_list:
- family: Hunt
  given: KL
- family: Czerwinski
  given: J
book-group-author: TRB
booktitle: 'TRANSIT PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT, MANAGEMENT AND PERFORMANCE, MARKETING

  AND FARE POLICY, AND CAPACITY AND QUALITY OF SERVICE'
da: '2023-09-28'
files: []
isbn: 0-309-09482-8
issn: 0361-1981
language: English
note: '83rd Annual Meeting of the Transportation-Research-Board, Washington,

  DC, JAN 11-15, 2004'
number: '1887'
number-of-cited-references: '16'
pages: 3-9
papis_id: a0bfe0b1073ba44e8c64770eb2809d05
ref: Hunt2004regionaltransit
series: TRANSPORTATION RESEARCH RECORD-SERIES
times-cited: '0'
title: Regional transit program for welfare to work in Chicago, Illinois - Three years
  later
type: Article; Proceedings Paper
unique-id: WOS:000227335100001
usage-count-last-180-days: '0'
usage-count-since-2013: '4'
web-of-science-categories: Engineering, Civil; Transportation; Transportation Science
  \& Technology
year: '2004'