Congress has just six days to maintain federal transit benefits before it’s too late for Metro riders to use the current levels in January, transit agency officials said Thursday. The deadline for employers to make changes to employees’ transit benefits is on Wednesday. But Congress still hasn’t acted on several bills that would keep the current $230-per-month benefit levels from lapsing to $125 per month starting Jan. 1.
Without action in the next few days, all benefits must be set at the lower level, Metro General Manager Richard Sarles said. It would take until at least February for riders to get the restored benefits if Congress does pass the legislation.
| Metro, GSA reach deal to locate fed agency at a rail stop |
| Metro officials and the federal government on Thursday agreed to potentially move a federal agency to a Metro stop as part of a mixed-use development. |
| The deal would require at least 500,000 square feet that isn’t already committed to other projects, which limits how many stations could win the coveted federal tenant. Metro’s director of real estate, Steve Goldin, declined to name which stations but acknowledged that at least four stations meet the qualifications. |
| It’s a nonbinding deal, and no agencies have been picked. Any move would have to pass Congress and come back to the Metro board for approval. It would take at least two years to wrap up, officials estimated. |
| The deal would mean potentially major money for Metro — driving riders to the system, filling empty seats on outbound trains, plus providing hefty rent checks from the federal government for the multidecade lease. |
| It also could jump-start development around the station, boosting the value of real estate in the area and bringing in tax revenue to the community. – Kytja Weir |
For some riders, in fact, it already may be too late, as their employers have already turned in their paperwork.
The benefits are a lifeline for transit agencies around the country, but none more so than Metro, which estimates that 270,000 riders receive “SmartBenefits.” Metro officials have estimated that a drop in the benefit would cost the agency 2.8 percent of its already faltering ridership. Virginia Railway Express and MARC commuter trains would also feel the effect.
The benefits are given to workers as a perk or as a pretax deduction from their paychecks, or a combination of the two. Most federal workers in the region get the full transit amount as a perk, with the thinking that it is cheaper for the federal government to pay for transit rides than to build enough parking garages and roads to accommodate workers driving to their jobs each day.
The transit benefit initially was raised to match the parking benefit in 2009 as part of the federal stimulus package. Congress extended the benefits for one more year at this time last year.
But so far this year, representatives have been mired in resolving the payroll tax and other issues.
The parking benefits, meanwhile, are slated to rise to $240 per month, which transit advocates argue is an injustice that will push more people into cars.
