MTR 267, Transit-Chek Gets Federal Mandate

Issue 267

April 28, 2000

Transit-Chek Gets Federal Mandate

In commemoration of Earth Day, President Clinton issued an executive order last week requiring all federal agencies in the Washington, DC area to begin providing tax benefits to mass transit commuters for employees by October 1, 2000. Under the edict, workers will be eligible for up to $65 of pre-tax income to use on public transit in addition to current compensation. Bills introduced in the U.S. Senate and House earlier this year would raise the monthly pre-tax limit on the commuter benefit from $65 to $175 (MTR #262). Department of Transportation projections suggest that between 75,000 and 100,000 Federal employees will take advantage of the benefit.

A further component of the presidential order begins a three-year pilot program under which the Department of Energy, the Environmental Protection Agency, and DOT will offer the transit benefit to their employees across the country with the aim of eventually extending the benefit to all Federal employees nationwide. The pilot carries the potential to stimulate greater recognition of the program nationally among private companies. Last year workers in New York City made up 60% of total participants, expected to become 80% when city employees are offered the benefit by the end of the summer (MTR #262). The three federal agencies are also charged with analyzing the program's impacts on the use of single occupancy vehicles and on local area congestion.

For more: www.transact.org/Toolmonth/tools.htm