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Transit Benefits
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has increased the monthly pre-tax contribution for commuter expenses from $120 to $230, allowing you to save even more money by riding public transit. Read below about how you can take advantage of this great opportunity.
Employees
Check with your employer to see if the company offers commuter benefits, which allows you, as an employee, to use pre-tax money to pay for your commute. If you are able to enroll in this program through your company, you will not have to pay federal income tax on transit commuter benefits, unless you exceed $230 per month. If your company has not implemented a commuter benefits program, you and your co-workers may suggest to your employer to adopt it.
Employers
There are three types of Transit Benefits programs that the company may set up: The employer may choose to offer this program as part of payroll deduction, subsidized benefit or a combination of the two. After deciding the way the company would administer the program, the employer may purchase the transit tickets or vouchers and distribute them to the employees, reimburse employees for transportation expenses or hire a third-party administrator to manage the program. For additional information on how to set up a Transit Benefits program, please refer to the links below.
commuterbenefits.org
rideshare.511.org/rideshare_rewards/tax_benefits.asp
As an employer, you also can contact the following Employer Services representatives who will help you set up transportation programs to promote commute alternatives other than driving alone.
- San Francisco:
San Francisco Department of the Environment.
415.355.3734
Faiz Khan
faiz.khan@sfgov.org.
- San Mateo County:
Peninsula Traffic Congestion Relief Alliance
650.588.8170, ext. 104
Karen Sumner karen@commute.org.
- Santa Clara County:
Northwest (Mountain View, Palo Alto, Sunnyvale)
510.273.3648
Miriam Sorell
sorell@rideshare.511.org.
Central, Northeast and Moffett Park
408.321.5948
Linda Furnas
furnas@rideshare.511.org.
Source: http://rideshare.511.org/employer_services/tdm_outreach_specialists.asp
Transit Benefit Checks and Caltrain
Those who use transit benefit checks may want to sign up for the Caltrain Ticket-By-Mail program. Information is available at www.caltrain.com/schedule_tickets.html. The transit benefit check also can be used to purchase tickets from the station agent at the San Francisco and San Jose stations, as well as at Caltrain Headquarters (1250 San Carlos Ave. in San Carlos).
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