Regional Transportation Program for Welfare to Work

Abstract

In its first round of Welfare to Work (WtW) competitive grants, the Department of Labor awarded $3 million to the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development for a regional public transportation program for the Chicago area. The proposal was submitted on behalf of the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), which operates bus and rail service in the city of Chicago and 38 suburbs, and Pace, which operates the suburban bus service in the region. The service area for the program includes the following counties: Cook, Chicago, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, and Will. The program consists of three components, CTA/Pace 30-day passes, a regional vanpool program, and train-the-trainer workshops in which job developers and caseworkers learn about public transportation options in the region. Program participants are Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) clients who are new to or reentering the workforce. The TANF population, like the general population, is diverse. However, there are common challenges that must be overcome by many of the people who qualify for the regional program. CTA and Pace automated fare collection equipment data were used to examine ridership of WtW passes compared with the ridership of regular 30-day passes.

Regional Transit Program for Welfare to Work in Chicago, Illinois: Three Years Later

“…Most of these clients were in Cook County, where caseloads have dropped about 25% each year for the past 2 years (7 ). There were 70,000 clients in Cook County in March 2000 (1). Nearly 97% of Cook County TANF clients are in Chicago (8).…”

“…This paper looks at the impact of Chicago's welfare-to-work (WtW) regional transportation program on participants 3 years after a study conducted by the authors in 2000 (1). Once again, WtW participants' travel patterns were examined and compared with the patterns of regular 30-day pass users to see how they differed.…”

“…Additionally, DOL allowed up to 30% of funds to be spent on people who had characteristics like those who exhibited long-term dependence (1). Project responsibilities for each partner are described below.…”

“…Furthermore, the time of day and the number of times that passes were used were very similar to those for regular 30-day pass users. By March 2000, 3,650 unduplicated individuals were using WtW passes (1). The similarity in usage for both groups was concluded to be due to the strong economy.…”