From Welfare to Work
Approximately 94% of welfare recipients attempting to move into the workforce do not own cars and must rely on public transportation to get to work. And, while 60% of welfare recipients live in central cities, the majority of new jobs are in the suburbs. The federal Job Access and Reverse Commute Program (JARC) has been a huge success in providing targeted transit services to dislocated workers, welfare recipients, and other low-income individuals seeking affordable access to jobs in suburban areas.
ATU Supports
Establishment of a pilot program at the State Department of Transportation that would provide resources to transit systems for so-called “reverse commute” service, helping people living in inner cities get to new suburban job locations.
From 1998-2005, these innovative programs were available only in a limited number of states. However, the new federal transportation bill expands JARC by providing seed money to transit systems in all 50 states.
Now, it is up to the states to provide matching funds so that transit operators nationwide may work to meet the needs of low-income people by providing special reverse commute and suburb-to-suburb bus, rail and van services to match center city residents with suburban jobs.
The program will only reach its full potential with significant investment by the states. | 
