Wheels to Wealth: The Role of Auto Ownership in Reducing Poverty

" A researcher from one of Washington, D.C.’s most influential public-policy think tanks suggested during a visit here recently that if advocates for the poor really want to help low-income families, they’ll start putting their energies toward enabling people of meager financial means to purchase automobiles. 'Even in places that have really good transit, research evidence shows that with a car, people have much better opportunities for employment,' said Margy Waller, a Clinton administration domestic advisor who now studies transportation and poverty issues for the Brookings Institution. 'People with cars work more hours, earn more income, and are generally more likely to be employed,' said Waller...

Public transit advocates invariably argue that allocating limited resources toward mass transit benefits the poor. By expanding the systems, they suggest, day-to-day life becomes more affordable for low-income households because the need for buying and maintaining an automobile is curtailed. Waller’s research reveals a different reality."

Thanks to Mark Hughes