Changing Lives Study
A 2003 study of 155 recipients revealed that owning a car has a significant impact on the earning ability of
the individual and the lifestyle of the entire family. The study revealed 73% of Vehicles for Change (VFC)
recipients obtained better jobs/promotions and increased their income by an average of $4,558.00. Vehicles for Change, August 2009

University of Virginia Study
The University of Virginia Study on workforce participation finds that the most common problem faced by clients is a lack of transportation and recommends allocating funds from the TANF block grant to support an expansion of the Vehicles for Change program in all localities with a workforce participation rate of 46 percent or less. University of Virginia, June 2009

Car Trouble: Predatory Auto Loans Burden North Carolina Consumers
The Center for Responsible Lending  researchers have closely scrutinized dubious car lending practices – using data derived from industry sources and results from a consumer survey – so that buyers might be better informed and get a fairer shake. Center for Responsible Lending, April 2009

Fueling Fair Practices: A Road Map to Improved Public Policy for Used Car Sales and Financing
This guide examines problems and inequalities in the current used car sales and finance market, and suggest policy reforms that would bring fairness to these transactions. National Consumer Law Center, March 2009

Disclosure and Transparency in the Automobile Finance Industry: A Call to Action
This report discusses the immediate need for data collection and accountability in the automobile finance industry. One World Consulting Group, LLC & Opportunity Cars, December 2008

North Carolina Car Buyers Survery
Full year data, 2008.

GAO Report: Vehicle Donations
Selected Charities Reported Mixed Experiences after Changes in Vehicle Donation Rules. In 2003, GAO found that many taxpayers’ estimates of the value of their vehicles, claimed as tax deductions, were in excess of the charities’ subsequent sales of the vehicles. United States Government Accountability Office, February 2008

Dealer Kickback Volume by State
A report on the figures derived from kickback data in the 2008 Consumer Bankers Association Automotive Finance Study and sales data for dealer-financed vehicles from CNW Market Research (excluding leases). Center for Responsible Lending, 2007 full-year data

Low-Income Car Ownership Programs - 2006 Survey
A report on the characteristics of programs that provide access to car ownership for low-wage workers, based on a comprehensive survey of 108 of the 151 documented car-ownership programs that was conducted between June and August, 2006. National Economic Development and Law Center (NEDLC), June 2007

Buying and Keeping a Used Car
Buying a car is a big investment.  This decision will affect your life for years. Buying a used car will generally cost you less than a new car, but there are more risks.  Take some time to think about why you need a car, read about buying and keeping a used car below, and then make an informed decision. Illinois Legal Aid Online, April 2007

Gaining Traction: How Working Wheels Helps Working Families Move Ahead
In 2002, the Working Wheels car ownership program was launched to help address the growing
transportation-to-work need in Seattle Washington's King County. Now in its third year, Working Wheels (WW) has sold more than 225 affordable used cars to low income individuals and families. Port Jobs, 2006

GAO Report: GSA Fleet
Information on the Effect of Donating Cars to YouthBuild USA and Potential Benefits to Rural Youthbuild Participants. Includes a review of the benefits of donating a car to existing car ownership programs on low-income families across the country. United States Government Accountability Office, December 2006

Ford Settlement Agreement
This class action was filed on April 16, 2002, challenging the “mark-up policy” as being in violation of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, 15 U.S.C. § 1691 et seq. (the "ECOA"). Nashville Tennesee, November 2006

Ways to Work Recipient Demographics - Monroe County Pennsylvania
Full year data 2005 - 2009

Ways to Work Recipient Demographics - Lehigh County Pennsylvania
Full year data 2000 - 2009

Double Jeopardy: Why the Poor Pay More
If you live on the tough side of town or the wrong side of the tracks, if you earn a modest hourly wage and not a lofty salary, if you’re a racial or ethnic minority...watch your wallet! Chances are, you’re paying higher prices than the rest of us, and you’re imperiled by thicket of deceptive money traps that can bust your budget and drain your savings. Dick Mendel - Advocasey, Winter 2005 Page 4

Deals on Wheels: Expanding Automotive Opportunity in New England
The first time Robyn Harris ducked into the belowground office of Fannie CLAC, a nonprofit car ownership program in Lebanon, New Hampshire, she was in a bad fix. A divorced mother of two teens, she was hiring cabs, begging rides, and walking unlit roadways to get to her night shift at a factory and her day job on the sales floor at J.C. Penney. Susan Brenna - Advocasey, Page 30 Winter 2005

High Cost or High Opportunity Cost? Transportation and Family Economic Success
Research suggests that having a car is a worthwhile investment in better outcomes for low-income families. Recent reports quantify the additional money required to own and operate personal vehicles, as compared to the lower cost of traveling on public transit. Margy Waller - The Brookings Institution Policy Brief, December 2005

Auto-Mobility: Subsidizing America's commute would reward work boost the economy and transform lives
Among the many unpleasant realities exposed by Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath--from persistent income and racial disparities to the chronic incompetence of the Bush administration--one of the most surprising, to many, was this: our nearly total dependence on automobiles. Nowhere was this clearer than in the exodus from New Orleans itself. The difference between those who escaped with their lives and loved ones, and those who did not, often came down to access to a car and enough money for gas. Margy Waller - The Washington Monthly, October/November 2005

Transportation and Low-Income Households
Topics: Cars as Necessity for Most, The Benefits of Automobiles to Low-Income Families, The Auto Access Problem, and Key Policy Challenges. Evelyn Blumenberg - UCLA School of Public Affairs, 2005

Evaluation of the Good Wheels Car Loan Program
This evaluation reveals the effectiveness of the Good Wheels car loan program. The objective of Good Wheels is to eliminate transportation as a barrier to employment. Bureau of Family Independence, Maine Department of Health and Human Services, May 2005

Honda Class Action Lawsuit
Economist and Lawyer Ian Ayers' Expert Report on the American Honda Finance Corporation Class Action Lawsuit. Nashville, Tennessee, June 2004

The Long Journey to Work: A Federal Transportation Policy for Working Families
To work, low-income adults need to get to work. However, traveling to jobs is frequently easier said than done, particularly for those without access to fast, reliable transportation. Evelyn Blumenberg and Margy Waller - The Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy, July 2003

Shifting Into Gear: A Comprehensive Guide to Creating A Car Ownership Program
Public transportation may get many people to work, but it will not work for everyone. Many people work shifts outside of nine-to-five business hours, take children to school or day care on their way to work, or live beyond the reach of a transit system or in a rural area without any public transit at all. Car ownership programs represent an innovative response to address the transportation needs of low-income workers. Sue Wong and Tam Ma, 2003

Driving Out of Poverty in Private Automobiles
West CAP is a community-based organization operating in a 7-county area proximate to the twin cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1998, administrators of the organization developed hypotheses re. the transportation problems of Welfare-to- Work households in a rural area. It was believed that only the private automobile could meet all of the needs of TANF or Wisconsin Works (W-2) households. West Central Wisconsin Community Action Agency, Inc., January 2002

JumpStart Survey Results
In order to evaluate the experience of the program in the lives of its clients, West CAP conducted a survey of all clients who had owned a JumpStart vehicle for 6 months or more. The responses were entered into an SPSS database for analysis. Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development, November 2001