Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Public Versus Private Mobility For The Poor: Transit Improvements Versus Increased Car Ownership In The Sacramento Region, Mti Research Report 08-02, Robert A. Johnston, Shengyi Gao

Mineta Transportation Institute

Whether to aid welfare recipients in overcoming transportation barriers with increased car ownership or better transit became an issue after the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 was signed into law. Empirical studies pointed out that welfare recipients owning a car had a high probability of moving from welfare to work. In this study, the authors examined the impacts of car ownership promotion versus transit improvements on job accessibility, work trips, and traveler´s economic welfare by running a travel demand model adopted by the Sacramento Area Council of Governments (SACOG). In the car scenario, the zero-car households …