The $230 employee benefit that Metro and other transit riders rely on to help defray the cost of their commutes isn’t slated to last forever.
The commuter benefit, boosted last year as part of the federal stimulus package, is scheduled to return to $120 per month at the start of 2011, causing transit officials to push Congress to renew what has become the lifeblood of agencies battling faltering ridership.
The American Public Transportation Association is lobbying to have it added to the next transportation reauthorization bill or to other legislation to ensure that transit benefits remain the same as existing parking benefits.
“We just want it to be equal,” said Virginia Miller, a group spokeswoman. “It’s a fairness issue. Transit riders should be getting the same as car drivers.”
The Metro board of directors discussed the issue Thursday, noting that the agency needs to help seek a renewal because it depends on the benefit.
But Metro is running out of time, as any legislation would need to be passed well in advance of the Dec. 31 deadline so commuters do not experience a gap.
The transit benefit is given in two main ways: directly to workers as a perk or as a pretax paycheck reduction that gives their employers a tax benefit. The idea is that the cost of the benefit outweighs the cost of building parking garages and roads to accommodate the workers. Encouraging transit helps reduce the area’s notorious congestion and help air quality.
The transit benefit is given in two main ways: directly to workers as a perk or as a pretax paycheck reduction that gives their employers a tax benefit. The idea is that the cost of the benefit outweighs the cost of building parking garages and roads to accommodate the workers. Encouraging transit helps reduce the area’s notorious congestion and help air quality.
The federal stimulus package increased the benefit as of March 1, 2009, from $120 a month to $230, equalizing it with parking benefits. But the stimulus boost has a sunset clause.
The change could hurt local transit agencies especially as 120,000 federal workers in the region receive up to $230 a month directly, according to the Department of Transportation. That means essentially free, taxpayer-funded transit rides or at least a hefty bite of the most expensive trips.
The employee benefit for federal workers locally could total as much $331 million a year with the stimulus-enhanced benefit, as reported by the Washington Examiner on Tuesday.
Metro especially wins out. About 40 percent of the agency’s morning rush-hour train riders are federal workers, meaning the federal government is adding to the agency’s coffers through the employee perk.
The benefit, whether for government or private workers, helps numb the pain of proposed fare increases that Metro is considering to help close a record $189 million budget gap. Already local advocates are standing behind fare increases that could amount to as much as $5.95 per train trip in lieu of cuts to transit service.
