Originally Posted by zephyr

Here in the southern california megalopolis, some of my co-workers participate in van pools for long haul commutes (40 to 60 miles each way). Each vanpool member pays roughly $60-$80 per month depending on the number of people in the vanpool. My employer pays the gasoline and toll road costs for the vanpool. I am guessing this costs my employer at least $200 per week per vanpool. Somehow they get some of this back in the form of tax rebates for encouraging van pools. In reality those state or fed tax rebates and subsidies by my employer are encouraging and facilitating a lot of people to live in very distant communities. Are subsidized vanpools part of the problem or part of the solution? I don't think my tax money should subsidize someone else's super long haul van commute. I don't take subsidies for my daily bike commute, even though there is some red-tape wrapped bike commute expense reimbursement that was passed a few years ago.