I don't know about where you live but at least here in my own area (Phila) the county welfare and social services offices are located near public transportation. It's really ironic though because the last time I was there I noticed that there were more people who drove there in their own cars than those who took the bus there.
So are the offices that you are talking about - are they near public transportation?
I know of one client that signed up for food stamps and since getting to the office proved to be difficult the process was done over the phone and the forms were filled out and mailed and faxed back to the offices and they received their food stamp card in the mail.