To little public attention, the McGreevey Administration last Tuesday announced the start of a new program that offers the federal mass transit commuter benefit to state employees.

The move puts New Jersey in league with the State of Connecticut, City of New York and Westchester County as a tri-state region public sector employer offering the transit benefit.

At no cost to transit providers such as NJ Transit, the commuter benefit program (largely administered in our region as TransitChek), a part of federal tax law, allows employees to use up to $100 per month ($1,200 per year) in pre-tax income to purchase transit fares. With a base salary of $48,000, this can translate into employee savings of up to $400 a year. The program will also produce direct savings for the New Jersey budget, because the state’s payroll taxes will be reduced by the pre-tax spending.

The governor’s Tuesday release contained supportive statements from state officials, NJ Transit and the Tri-State Campaign. Supporters hope the state action will lead more New Jersey employers to opt in to the program. Employees are only eligible for the benefit if their employers choose to participate in the program. A national survey found that employees with transit benefits were twice as likely to get to work by means other than solo driving (MTR #318).

The push to have New Jersey offer TransitChek to public employees took some time. A measure to offer the benefit began hearings in the NJ legislature during 2000. It was enacted in 2001 (MTR #325), but it has taken the NJ Treasury Dept. since then to set up implementation of the program. The measure makes about 76,000 state workers eligible for the transit benefit.

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