How Transportation Problems Keep People Out of the Workforce in Greater New Haven

The NAACP’s 2013 State of Minority Affairs Report, Urban Apartheid, 1 called upon residents, organizations, and businesses to “work with planning and zoning boards and the South Central Regional Council of Governments (SCRCOG) to review the impact of inadequate public transportation systems that undermine employment opportunities for too many residents. Our transportation system has not kept pace with the growth of the region and has added to the transportation burden of many families.” After NAACP presented these findings to elected officials at SCRCOG, the two organizations formed a partnership in response to the recommendations in Urban Apartheid. In 2014, with additional participation from Workforce Alliance, the newly-created Greater New Haven Job Access and Transportation Working Group partnered with DataHaven, a non-profit public service organization that collects and interprets local information, to facilitate meetings, conduct interviews with area agencies, and study transportation-related barriers to employment. DataHaven also analyzed a survey of New Haven residents conducted by the NAACP, and hired the Connecticut Economic Resource Center (CERC) to conduct a focus group. Mark Abraham, Executive Director of DataHaven, served as the lead author of this report, which would not have been possible without contributions from Carl Amento (SCRCOG), Jim Rawlings, Howard Hill, and James Rawlins (NAACP – Greater New Haven Branch), Bill Villano and Mike Krauss (Workforce Alliance), Carmel Ford (CERC), and others, as well as funding from SCRCOG. Suggested citation: Abraham, M. (2014). How Transportation Problems Keep People Out of the Workforce in Greater New Haven. New Haven: Greater New Haven Job Access and Transportation Working Group and DataHaven.