Overcoming Roadblocks on the Way to Work: Bridges to Work Field Report

While many low-income, inner-city job seekers are isolated from economic opportunities in the suburbs, transportation alone is unlikely to improve their employment prospects, according to the authors of this report. Based on the lessons of P/PV's $17 million five-city Bridges to Work demonstration, the report indicates that while transportation was certainly critical, much of the sites' success depended more on their ability to recruit, prepare and support job seekers, the essential components of any workforce development program

Getting from Here to There: The Bridges to Work Demonstration First Report to the Field

In response to the increase in inner-city joblessness and the growing suburbanization of employment in the early 1990s, P/PV's developed the Bridges to Work initiative. Bridges provided transportation to allow inner-city residents to reach suburban jobs while also offering limited support services aimed at mitigating problems created or exacerbated by the longer daily commutes. This report examines the challenges and achievements pilot sites experienced in trying to build partnerships between cities and suburbs agencies during the planning and implementation phases