On Wednesday, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Transit Administration (FTA) announced it would make funding available to study whether a lack of regular and reliable access to transportation is linked to poverty.
Federal officials said one in four Americans does not have access to transportation on a regular basis that meets their daily needs. To research the link between transportation access and poverty, the FTA said it will award $6 million in grant funding to the University of Minnesota to design a program that identifies and addresses the factors leading to transportation insecurity.
“Transportation gives us the freedom our nation was founded upon,” said FTA Administrator Nuria Fernandez. “Without reliable and resilient transportation, more people will end up in poverty, and fewer will be able to improve their lives. This grant will improve access to jobs, food, and healthcare – the ingredients to a better quality of life.”
While the federal government has several programs and policies that address food insecurity and housing insecurity, none address transportation insecurity, officials said.
The funding will go to the University of Minnesota Center for Transportation Studies, Tolle Design Group, and the Center for Neighborhood Technology and Urban Movement Labs to create the Mobility, Access, and Transportation Insecurity: Creating Link to Opportunity (MATI) Program. Officials said the program will develop and implement demonstrations that rely on public transportation to mitigate transportation insecurity and then evaluate the demonstrations’ effectiveness and outcomes. The research will also look at strategies to address transportation insecurity, like improved access to job training.
The grant was awarded through a competitive process started with a notice of funding opportunity announced last August, officials said.