Commuter benefits

Jessica Ayer

I recently ran across a survey that revealed how much many employers value commuter benefits. The survey noted that many of the surveyed employers kept their commuter benefits even through the economic downturn.

Do your companies offer commuter benefits? If so, have you found value in offering them? Are they important to your employees?

ACU Frank

I don't even know what commuter benefits are.

Jessica Ayer

The survey defined commuter benefits as "subsidized carpool/vanpool, flextime, subsidized or pretax transit/parking program or telecommuting."

In case anybody is interested in the survey, the 2009 Commuter Impact Survey conducted by TransitCenter can be found at:

[URL="http://www.transitcenter.com/uploadedFiles/Transit_Resources/IndustryInformation/CommuterImpactSurvey2008.pdf"]http://www.transitcenter.com/uploadedFiles/Transit_Resources/IndustryInformation/CommuterImpactSurvey2008.pdf[/URL]

I thought it was pretty interesting because I hadn't heard that much about commuter benefits either (besides telecommuting).

Still Need Coffee

Our Chicago employees almost all take advantage of the commuter benefits offered under Section 132 of the IRC. It allows employees to deduct up to $230 for parking and/or public transportation (for a total of $460 per month) from their paychecks, pre-tax. We calculate the taxes, then put the money right back in. While some employers require employees to submit receipts that they actually spend x dollars on transportation, we operate our program under an honor system.

While it's just a pre-tax program, our employees seem to really appreciate it, and living in a city with one of the highest tax structures in the nation, we appreciate every little bit we can get!