The Final Push to Preserve an Important Benefit for Transit Riders

Research by TransitCenter, a nonprofit which administers the transit benefit in our region, suggests transit ridership could fall by 9% among benefit users. Writing in the Connecticut Post last week, TSTC federal advocate Ya-Ting Liu warned against going back to a status quo where workers get a bigger tax break for driving. “The disparity between the two benefits pushes people away from transit, squeezes the pocketbooks of those who keep taking transit and encourages people to drive to work even if they have viable transit options,” she wrote.

There are two ways federal lawmakers could shield transit riders. The most likely path, Washington observers suggest, is that an extension of the benefit could be inserted into related legislation, such as a rumored compromise on the Bush-era income tax cuts. Longer-term, the Commuter Benefits Equity Act (S. 322/H.R. 891) would permanently equalize the transit and driving benefits. The bill is sponsored by Sen. Schumer with 15 co-sponsors including Sens. Dodd, Lieberman, Menendez, Lautenberg, and Gillibrand.