Transportation is frequently identified as a significant barrier to finding and maintaining employment for low-income families. Studies on families leaving welfare for work find that many do not own cars and do not have adequate transportation to and from work, child care, and other activities.

Public transportation –especially in rural areas – is often non-existent or inadequate. Public transportation also can be problematic when a parent’s job and child care provider are located at some distance from each other. Public transportation is also difficult for parents who work nights and weekends.

Car ownership can be a solution to some of these transportation challenges. Research has shown that a parent with a car is more likely to be employed and to work more hours than a parent without a car. A reliable automobile can provide parents with access to a greater array of employment opportunities. Also, having access to a car can mitigate some of the scheduling complications that arise in child care arrangements.

Often a reliable vehicle is the most practical transportation mode for parents to get to work. This is true in rural areas with no public transit, and even when public transit is available, it may not be a feasible solution for parents who must make multiple stops to drop children off at child care and school before traveling to work, and then make the reverse stops at the end of the day.

When low-income families do own a vehicle, it is often an older, cheaper model that is unreliable and frequently in need of repairs. With very little disposable income available to purchase and maintain a reliable vehicle, low-income households are virtually ensured that their car will be older and in disrepair. Many low-income families cannot afford to own a car without assistance. Most current or former welfare recipients cannot afford to buy or save for a car. For those that do own vehicles, insurance payments and ongoing maintenance costs often are very high. The total cost of car ownership varies from region to region, but is generally between $1,100 and $1,400 per year (excluding purchase price and any major repairs). For a family earning minimum wage and working 30 hours per week, car ownership costs (again, excluding purchase price and major repairs) can be between 10 and 14 percent of their income.24 Because the cars that low-income families can afford tend to be older, the cost of repair can be especially high. Insurance costs also are a significant financial burden for drivers who do not have a past driving record or who are young, and for those that reside in urban, high risk areas where a large number of welfare recipients and other low-income families live.

The private transportation situation of low-income families is chronically insecure. In the 2000 SCCAC client survey, 33.5% of respondents cited automotive costs as a major problem. 30.5% had problems due to lack of transportation during the last year. 20.5% of households surveyed did not have a working car

Frisbie Memorial Hospital
Community Needs Assessment
June 22,2000

Transportation was a common theme across all of the interviews.

• People are not going to get the care they need if they cannot get to their medical appointment.
• Public transportation is provided via the COAST system but the schedules are generally not extensive enough to provide reliable service throughout the day.
• Many residents are "stranded" as a result of living substantial distances from the local bus stop.

SEACOAST MPO
TRANSPORTATION PLAN 1998

Intra-City Transit Needs
In recent years, there has been a call for increased intra-city transit service, i.e. within the city boundaries. In the past, COAST has supplied a connection between large municipalities in the region like Dover, Rochester, Portsmouth and Durham but there was no way to get around the city once in it. This has been a problem for transit dependent riders who need to get to locations other than those along the limited route. Intra-city transit would be good for ridership and tourism. This is a demand that riders and non-riders,
alike, have made of transit in the region.

Land Use
Although less dispersed than many developing areas in the United States, our area is becoming increasingly spread out and land uses increasingly segregated. This creates a need for more travel. Unfortunately, this increasing dispersed development is not efficiently served by traditional fixed route transit.