As time begins to run out for former welfare recipients, all across the country states are discovering what social service agencies have long recognized lack of transportation is the biggest obstacle to employment.
Studies illustrate the seriousness of the problem.
Many cities, including Los Angeles, have used the money to extend lines and service hours of public busing systems. But some urban planners, including Paul Ong of UCLA, believe this is the wrong approach because buses frequently take twice as long as cars to get to their destinations. Van pools may offer a better solution. A Chicago-area study showed that vans took one hour and 10 minutes to go the same distance that took a bus two or three hours. And the cost of riding in a van pool compares favorably with the cost of riding a bus, according to Chicago's Pace, which operates the second largest van pool, after Seattle, in the country.