From Wikipedia

Wheels to Wealth
Wheels to Wealth is an on-going project by Cascade to educate the public and policy makers about the value of car ownership in helping improve economic opportunity for the poor. According to Cascade research has shown that automobile ownership has a positive effect on employment. One study, by Kerri Sullivan of Portland State University, found that car ownership reduced the likelihood of being unemployed by 80 percent, increased average weekly wages by $275, and increased the average time worked each year by 8.5 weeks. Cascade hopes to encourage assistance for car ownership among low income groups and make changes in welfare and transport policy to promote car ownership.[5]

I will not dispute the "facts" of the PSU Professor. The fact that our transportation infrastructure is fatally based on the automobile is a given. Therefore, if one has a car, one can access our far flung employment sites, many of which are either not served by public transportation, or grossly under-served, no "Owl" service in industrial areas for example.
The Cascade Policy Institute also neglects to consider that the working poor are going to be spending a disproportionate percentage of their income on automobile expenses. Add to this, the scurrilous insurance industry practice of "red-lining" low-income neighborhoods. I have always wondered why people do not question the need for sewers. No one expects the sewer system to turn a profit. I would like the Cascade Policy Institute to explain to me how much of a profit airports, and freeways make, and why my tax dollars should continue to support an unsustainable automobile economy.

Pdxrailtransit