Transportation For America » Transit benefits will soon be cut in half

Transit benefits will soon be cut in half — Help us stop it

November 19, 2010
By Stephen Lee Davis

If you take transit to get to work each day, come January you could be paying more out of your own pocket when the tax deduction for transit is cut in half.

But drivers will keep enjoying the same great parking benefit – nearly double what transit commuters will be eligible to receive. We don’t think that’s fair, and Congress needs to hear about it.

Sign this petition from our friends at Commuter Nation urging Congress to restore the transit benefit and make it equal to the parking benefit. They’ll deliver all the signatures December 1 – so pass it on quickly!

Come January, if you spend more than $120 a month on your commute in a vanpool, train or bus, the federal government will be sending a message loud and clear: they’d like you to start driving to work, where you can get $230 for parking deducted from your paycheck tax free.

A provision in the stimulus bill increased the transit benefit from $120 to $230, finally putting it on equal footing with the $230 parking benefit and extending this great benefit to everyone, whether they drive or take transit each day. But that provision is about to expire unless Congress votes to extend it during their December session.

Transportation is the second largest household expense for many households. The millions of Americans who depend on transit to get to work each day shouldn’t have to pay more to do something that also saves us energy, reduces congestion and emissions, and uses less oil.

Americans need low-cost transportation options. Tell Congress to keep things fair by extending the transit benefit and keeping it equal with the parking benefit.

The federal government talks a good game about encouraging Americans to carpool or take public transportation to save energy and cut emissions, but they need to put their money where their mouth is. Sign our petition today.

(Note, this petition is hosted by Commuter Nation. -Ed.)

Filed under: Campaign Blog
Tags: action, commuting, featured, parking, tax benefit, transit, transit benefits

Read these other trending stories from T4 America

Alden Wilner

There’s a tax break for parking?? PORK! PORK! PORK! PORK!
Pingback: The Final Push to Preserve an Important Benefit for Transit Riders « NYC
Mr. Transit

Given the outcome of the November elections, a more sophisticated and successful policy would be to advocate for lowering the parking benefit, now $230 a month, to the transit benefit level of $120. This way you create a level playing field so to speak and the transit lobby does its part to reduce the federal deficit relatively painlessly.
Pingback: News Roundup: Hoses and Power Lines - Seattle Transit Blog