I am a Hennepin County Commissioner. Joining me today are Bill Brumfield, Director of Employment and Training for Hennepin County and Ken Stevens, the manager of the county's real estate and transit section. They will be available to answer any technical questions you may have. It is a pleasure to be here with you this afternoon to outline Hennepin County's thoughts with respect to the interrelationship of welfare reform and public transportation.
Transportation is a critical piece of the welfare reform puzzle.
Without adequate and reliable transportation to job sites and day care facilities, welfare recipients will be unable to make a successful transition from welfare to stable employment, capable of raising and keeping a family out of poverty. The ultimate success of welfare reform could easily rise or fall on this region's ability to provide necessary and affordable transportation services to enable welfare recipients to look for work, and once they find work, to job locations scattered throughout the Twin Cities. Do not underestimate the difficult of this task. As you can see from the map behind me, AFDC households in Hennepin County are largely concentrated in north and south side neighborhoods adjacent to downtown Minneapolis and in the suburbs of Brooklyn Park and Brooklyn Center. Much of the job growth associated with good paying light industrial jobs has occurred far from these neighborhoods, however, in the I-494 corridor and beyond.