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.

Research and Journal Articles

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

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.

Transportation and Low-Wage Work in the News

Bill could mean big savings on auto insurance for seniors
Freep.com
February 15, 2008

Best and Worst States to Own a Car
Forbes.com
February 14, 2008

The end of their roads: No license a roadblock to work
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
January 19, 2008

Editorial: Unfair suspensions leave workers idling
Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
January 19, 2008

Tax Change Reduces Car Donations: The Real Deal
ABC, Syracuse, New York
December 26, 2007

Car Program Offers Cheer to Residents Without Rides
Washington Post
December 21, 2007

Study Questions Va. Driver Fees, Raising the Possibility of Repeal
The Washington Post
December 6, 2007

California Taking Aim at Uninsured on the Roads
The New York Times
December 3, 2007

Car Donations Sputtering
The Non-Profit Times
August 1, 2007

Va. Enacted Bad-Driver Fees Despite Red Flags
The Washington Post
July 24, 2007

Minimum wage increase to boost up some of poorest US workers
The International Herald Tribune
July 21, 2007

Margy Waller on Cars, Transit and Low-Wage Workers
BBC
March 1, 2007

Traumatic Roadblocks
The Daily Press
December 22, 2005