Transportation, Work, Life

The Mobility Agenda addresses and pursues opportunities to improve access to private vehicles for low-wage workers in need of reliable, flexible, affordable transportation. On this page, we highlight some resources on this issue. These materials outline the correlation between transportation, private vehicle access, and a strong economy.

Resources

Making Connections Survey Data for Ten Cities
The Mobility Agenda
Center for Economic and Policy Research
March, 2008

High Cost or High Opportunity Cost? Transportation and Family Economic Success
A Brookings Institution Policy Brief
By: Margy Waller
December, 2005

Auto-Mobility: Subsidizing America's commute would reward work boost the economy and transform lives
Washington Monthly
By: Margy Waller
October/November, 2005

Driver’s License Suspension Policies
Brookings Institution
By: Margy Waller, Jennifer Doleac, and Ilsa Flanagan
June, 2005

Beyond the Spatial Mismatch: Welfare Recipients and Transportation Policy
Journal of Planning Literature
By: Evelyn Blumenberg
2004

The Long Journey to Work: A Federal Transportation Policy for Working Families
A Brookings Institution Policy Brief
By: Margy Waller and Evelyn Blumenberg
July, 2003

Getting There
By: Margy Waller and Mark Alan Hughes
September 1, 1999

Working Far From Home: Transportation and Welfare Reform in the Ten Big States
By: Margy Waller and Mark Alan Hughes
July 1, 1999

Meetings and Conferences

Economic Driver's License Suspension and Reinstatement Roundtable
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Baltimore, Maryland

At a recent roundtable, participants shared evidence and research on economic driver's license suspension and reinstatement and discussed current efforts to address suspension and reinstatement policies. Attendees identified promising practices for replication, discussed barriers to better policy and practice, and developed ideas for future research, services, and policy.

Employment and Housing Mobility Roundable
Monday, July 9, 2007
The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Baltimore, Maryland

At this roundtable we discussed the issues related to employment (economic success and inclusion) for low-wage households living in dispersed housing, particularly when moving from impacted high-poverty neighborhoods to less impacted communities, and catalogued promising practices to improve the economic outcomes and inclusion for employees, employers, and communities.

Low-Income Car Ownership Meeting: New Policy for Employment and Family Well-Being
Monday, December 5, 2005 
Falk Auditorium
The Brookings Institution 

Research suggests that having a car is a worthwhile investment for better outcomes among low-income families. At this meeting, researchers and program operators reviewed the research evidence, and discussed the policy implications and recent federal legislative proposals to improve access to car ownership opportunities for the working poor.