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Wheels to Wealth Project

A journey toward self-reliance

The goal of the multi-year Wheels to Wealth project is to disseminate information to policy makers and the public regarding the positive role private automobile ownership plays in creating and strengthening economic opportunity for the low-income and welfare dependent population.

Research has shown that automobile ownership is an empowering tool that can have a significantly positive effect on employment, especially for the low-skilled and low-income population. Numerous policy studies have concluded that owning a vehicle is a viable solution to transportation barriers to employment for low-income people. For example, Kerri Sullivan of Portland State University examined the effects of car ownership on employment and wages for adults without a high school diploma in Portland. She found that “Car ownership improved the likelihood of being employed by 80 percent. The effect on average weekly wages was approximately $275, and the effect on weeks worked was approximately 8.5 weeks.”

Automobile ownership also has the potential to reduce the employment gap between whites and minorities. According to Steve Raphael and Michael Stoll of UC-Berkeley and UCLA respectively, “. . . empirical estimates indicate that raising minority car-ownership rate would eliminate 45% of the black-white employment rate differential and 17% of the comparable Latino-White differential.”

Cascade believes that low-income families who struggle to make ends meet have the right to control their lives and careers. They should be the ones to choose how to manage their time between work and family. In Oregon, limited bus routes and schedules contribute to the challenges facing the low-income, transit-dependent population. Owning a car can make a whole lot of difference for them. It would directly benefit the lives of the neediest families in Oregon. Cascade hopes that encouraging assistance for low-income car ownership will lead to changes in various transportation and welfare policies that would benefit more people at a comparably lower cost.

CASCADE PUBLICATIONS:

Click HERE for Cascade Publications

Featured Publications

• Empowerment Through Car Ownership, Sreya Sarkar, Cascade Update, Fall 2006

Testimony

“The proposed Wheels to Wealth initiative provides an example of how community transportation planning efforts could be organized around genuine attempts to identify the most effective solutions for low-wage workers. Only through consideration of all available transportation options, including car ownership programs, will we be able to develop the most relevant and effective transportation systems. Although public transportation will continue to play the lead role in urban transportation planning, car ownership programs have proven themselves to be a small but vital piece of the overall transportation puzzle in urban, suburban and rural areas.”
—Matthew Mueller, Director of Government Funding, Ways to Work, Inc.

Program Activities

Events

2007 Car Ownership Policy and Practice Convention: Sreya Sarkar participated in this national convention held in September (24-26) at Baltimore that attracted a diverse group of practitioners, policymakers and think tanks from around the country to discuss critical issues related to transportation and car ownership for low-wage workers. This was an important opportunity for Cascade’s Wheels to Wealth Program to gain recognition on a national stage. Two highlights of this conference were especially of note.

First was a discussion of the Creating Access to Rides (CAR) Act (H.R. 3599), introduced by Congresswoman Gwen Moore of Wisconsin in the U.S. House of Representatives this year. The bill has yet to find co-sponsors. The CAR Act would establish a 5-year, $50 million grant program through which states, localities and nonprofits could apply for funding to strengthen existing low-wage car ownership programs or create new ones. It also would expand the permissible uses of Individual Development Accounts (IDAs) to include car purchases.

The second highlight was a discussion of the Job Access and Reverse Commute (JARC) program and the associated community planning process. JARC is a federal grant program that provides funding for innovative transportation solutions that help low-wage individuals access places of employment. JARC is administered by the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). FTA is trying to identify the best practice in administering the JARC fund so that it does not become another non-transparent bureaucratic black box.

FTA has issued guidelines to encourage the participation of community-based organizations in deciding how to use this money effectively. In his presentation, Matt Mueller, director of government funding of the national Ways to Work program, discussed their recent publication on the JARC process. He mentioned the importance of programs like Cascade’s Wheels to Wealth in educating policymakers and the larger community about the importance of low-wage car ownership programs in connecting low-wage workers with permanent employment.

This occasion was also used to release a new documentary on low-wage car ownership, produced by Norman Klotz of NAK Productions for The Annie E. Casey Foundation.

TPAC presentation: Sreya Sarkar presented the Wheels to Wealth proposal to Transit Policy Alternatives Committee (TPAC) on August 31, 2007. The proposal has a dual purpose. First, to form a committee to discuss the transportation needs of the “working poor” population in the Portland Tri-county area. Second, to explore the feasibility of canceling TriMet’s lowest performing bus routes, and using a part of the savings to create a revolving loan fund to help fund a car loan program for low-income workers in the Tri-county area.

In response to the full report and presentation of the proposal to TPAC, Phil Selinger of TriMet submitted a memorandum on the same day. Cascade submitted a memorandum on September 10, 2007, as a reply to this memo.

Sreya Sarkar made a presentation on “Wheels to Wealth” at the Wilsonville Rotary Club on February 1, 2007. She discussed the new business model being developed in this country to cater to low-income drivers. She also talked about the benefits of low-income car ownership programs to both employers and employees in Wilsonville.

Wheels to Wealth Conference: Cascade hosted a symposium on low-income auto ownership on October 24, 2005. It was the first of its kind anywhere in the country. Prominent national and local researchers, Oregon state officials, lobbyists and journalists participated. Margy Waller of the Brookings Institution, Carolyn Hayden of the National Economic and Development Law Center, and Kerri Woehler of the Washington Department of Transportation made presentations. The symposium turned out to be very wide-ranging and interactive, as there were also speakers such as Dan Marchand of TriMet, Susan McClain of the Metro Council and Monte King of the Oregon Independent Auto Dealers Association.

Pictures from the Wheels to Wealth Conference, October 24, 2005.

Margy Waller of the Brookings Institution	John A. Charles of the Cascade Policy Institute
Dan Marchand of Tri-Met

Public Response

TriMet Comments on “Wheels to Wealth”

Community Engagement

“Beginning of a New Educational Journey,” by Sreya Sarkar. Cascade Update, Winter 2007.

Sreya Sarkar participated actively in Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs’ (OAME) 2006 Youth Entrepreneurship Conference. She distributed Wheels to Wealth flyers and questionnaires among the participating youths and organizations.

Director of the Wheels to Wealth Project Sreya Sarkar working as a “business coach” at OAME’s 2006 Youth Entrepreneurship Conference, on August 17, 2006.

More Materials/Sites of Interest

General Car Ownership Research

• “Affordable Car Ownership Programs: Transporting Families toward Financial Stability and Success,” A 2007 report by the Annie E. Casey Foundation that looks at innovative programs helping rural low-income families acquire affordable, reliable transportation as a strategy to secure or maintain employment.
• Blumenberg, Evelyn. “Auto Reliability” Transportation and Low-Income Households. Cars as Necessity for Most. UCLA School of Public Affairs. 2005.
• Waller, Margy. “High Cost or High Opportunity Cost? Transportation and family Economic Success.” Center on Children and Families Working Paper, Brookings Institution. 2005.
• “Buying and Keeping a Used Car.” Published by the Chicago Bar Association on how to deal with problems that arise when buying and keeping a used car, including issues during the sale, problems with financing, insurance, cosigners and guarantors, problems after purchase, repossession, and where to get help.
• “Creating Access to Rides (CAR) Act,” introduced by Congresswoman Gwen Moore would help low-income workers finance the purchase of cars so that they can access more and better job opportunities.
• “Deals on Wheels,” an article about low-income car ownership programs. Annie E. Casey Foundation. 2005.
• Driven to Succeed: How Wheels for Work Programs Are Moving People Down the Road to Self-Sufficiency, a Transportation Report, 2002.
• Our Role in the Process: A Grassroots Guide to Building Community-Based Employment Transportation. Community Transportation Association and Center for Community Change for the Federal Transit Administration, April 2002.

Car Ownership Program for the Low-Income Guide

• Shifting Into Gear: A Comprehensive Guide to Creating a Car-Ownership Program — National Economic Development & Law Center. It is a comprehensive toolkit that highlights promising practices from the field. Aimed at both start-up organizations and existing programs, this step-by-step guide is a planning tool for program design or program refinement.
• Metropolitan Family Service — Ways to Work program, the only car loan program for the low-income in Oregon.

Evaluation Reports

• Low-Income Car Ownership Programs: 2006 Survey, by NEDLC for Annie E. Casey Foundation, June 2007. This survey gathered information from 110 different Low-Income Car Ownership (LICO) programs across the country working to improve access to cars for low-wage workers and families.
• “Gaining Traction: How Working Wheels Helps Working Families Move Ahead,” Port Jobs. This 2006 report finds Working Wheels car owners earn more and have a better quality of life than their counterparts without cars.
• Griffith, Martha A., Ph.D. “New Leaf Services, Inc.: Client and Graduate Characteristics” Department of Political Science and International Affairs, Kennesaw State University, March 2002.
• Lucas, Marilyn. Ph.D. & Nicholson, Charles. The Impact of Vehicle Acquisition through Good News Garage on PATH Support Payments and Earned Income. University of Vermont and Cornell University. FULL REPORT, October 2000.