Transportation Access, Residential Location, and Economic Opportunity: Evidence From Two Housing Voucher Experiments

Evelyn Blumenberg
Gregory Pierce
University of California, Los Angeles

Michael Smart
Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey

Access to automobiles may be particularly important to housing voucher recipients, who are more likely than residents of public housing to live in suburban neighborhoods where transit service is often limited. Access to high-quality public transit is more likely to benefit low-income households who live in dense central-city neighborhoods in close proximity to employment. In this analysis we draw on survey data from two housing voucher experiments—the Moving to Opportunity for Fair Housing and Welfare-to- Work Voucher programs—to examine the relationship between access to automobiles and public transit and the employment and earnings outcomes of program participants.