In that case, perhaps it can be administered like a flex spending account debit card FSA Debit Card. An employer can place $20per month into your account, and you could use that card as you would a debit card at a bike shop.

Like others said, I guess more will be known when time goes on.

In these days of At-Will hiring (and firing) I am not inclined to put HR through the hassle of running the program. It might just be easier for HR to dump you out on the sidewalk and replace you then to administer the $20/mo program. I am the only one who ever rides to work at my job site. If the most senior person ever started to ride to work the program might work. Until then . . .

Is the program not completely optional? Simply asking whether your employer will participate will get you fired? That's some serious job instability/insecurity.

I think it will be easy to convince companies that are or want to be perceived as "green". Or those that have "wellness" programs. For all other companies that don't really care about this stuff, the administration of this is an extra hassle and may not be worth the effort to offer it.

I can't imagine anyone getting fired for asking about it, though.

Brian

Hey, you've just invented a new protected class... minority, over-40, disabled, sexual orientation, bike commuter. :lol:

My employer is a marketing agency and we produce a lot of printed items. In just the last few months, the production team has been pushing our "green" initiative, (basically using recycled papers and eco-friendly inks). Anyway, the VP from that department is heading it all up and trying to get the whole company on board. I think I can enlist him to help get this rolling.

:eek: Dude you use $20 a month in tubes and tires?? you are putting in some serious miles man. Seriously I am getting a little of the intended "feel good" vibes over this, however really this was debated to death on here long ago and most said what i say, the recognition is nice, however if you really seriously cycle commute, you already enjoy a very large tax break in the form of the sales taxes you don't pay on fuel, car related purchases, and in many cases automobile registration and useage taxes. Will I ask my emploresr for it? No i do not need the break and i work for a non profit ministry which gies me many perks because i ride already. A large secure climate controlled indoor parking area, showers and access to clothing should i require it, covering the occasional I forgot ----- this am, the ability to use company vehicles when needed for emergency runs home and so on. To me this far outweighs the $20 I could get per month!

If HR in anyone's company has this kind of power, it's probably a good time to move on to a different job. Sure, HR can keep you from getting a job, nobody trusts them enough to let them terminate someone.

By request I will stick this up for a little while...

SF

I think that's cool enough, now when do I find a job and one that makes my SSI/Disability MOOT :)

Come to think of it, living and staying in a house seems to be my job...I'll ask the landlord!

From where does the employer get the funds to pay for there program? Off their taxes or off the employee taxes that are withheld?

This is important to me 'cause I work for a public university. Since they are not for profit, I'm assuming that if this is coming from writing off their taxes - there will not be any benefit for me.

It's off their taxes.

Here is a link to the company that administers my companies commuter benefit
http://www.myshps.com/commuter/overview.stm
If gives a brief example of how much one would safe if they used the current commuter benefit which people keep saying this is identical to yet also say you get $20 which is where my confusion comes from. If it is like the current commuter benefit if you plug in the $240s for the bike commuting credit on their example $40k worker you'll end up saving $57 a year using pre-tax instead of post tax money.

What they did when I was in NYC was take$50 out of my paycheck for the first two pay periods in a month and put it into an account just like a medical flexible spending account. Then I could buy rail tickets through the website or or send in receipts to get reimbursed for purchases. It was limited to monthly charge though. At the time I could only use $100 of pretax money per a month towards my $300+ rail ticket and no more so I'm not sure how it would work for say the new set of wheels I bought. The wheels are good for more then just a month unlike the train ticket or parking passes so hopefully they would allow you use some saved up pre-tax money for a bulk purchase and not have to spend $20 a month on a layaway program to get stuff.

Since my company already deals with a vendor to do this once the vendor goes online I think I'll actually have that option. I know the vendor administrator in my company so once the bill passes I may ask about it in passing but that would be it I don't want to push anything in this layoff happy company.

On my campus - there are several bicyclists in the faculty/staff (and our student commuters are growing too) - a few that are die-hard commuters like me and the rest go on tour. Our Dean has already forwarded the information to the Director of Human Resources ... so we shall see.

Does your employer pay taxes? That's what this all does, right, offsets employer's taxes?

If a company offers this in 2009 as an extra fringe benefit above an beyond what you normally would get, they are out up to $240 less their tax savings, so it is indeed an extra expense for them. And you get an extra $240 that you wouldn't have gotten otherwise, plus some tax savings. Not tons of money, but enough to make most of us happier and feel a bit special for bike commuting.

If a company offers this $240 in lieu of of salary, the company saves a bit in taxes (maybe enough to justify the hassle of offering this as a benefit), and you save a bit in taxes. In this case the benefits to the commuter are less signifcant, though real. How much you save depends on your tax bracket. In my case I'd save $60 in taxes assuming I could spend the $240. Not enough to go around bragging that bike commuters are getting some kind of deal...

Brian

I'm self-employed and commute to my office every day that I can. I'll be interested to see if I can use this.

good for bikers !

When I originally heard about this, I thought it would just be a tax credit that I can type in when filing my income taxes next year. After more research into what Section 132 actually is, I've realized it's a bit more complicated than that.

Here is some random company's description of how the Section 132 transportation fringe benefit works. I got this from a quick google search:
I believe the new bailout bill now allows bicycle commuting to fall under the section 132 guidelines up to a maximum of $20 per month. If this actually is anything at all like the medical spending accounts, you will have pretax money taken from your paycheck to go to a commuting account. You will have to pay for things up front, but can submit a claim for each of your bike related commuting expenses that will be reimbursed to you from that commuting account.

This is just actually just saving you from paying income tax on $240 (realistically would save me roughly what, $80) a year, not giving you an extra $240 like some people think it will be.

Yeah, that makes it much less attractive :(

However, this might make it more likely that an employer will actually implement the plan. Since they are not having to spend their money on it.

You got that right.......My boss drives his gas guzzling Landrover to work and gets to pay for his $150 parking fee each month tax free, but I am only allotted $20 tax free a month for bike maintenance. I know it's better than nothing, but come on.......

is there a lobby group?
 

Is there political action group that lobbys for cyclists? if so what is the name...

Well I presented it my employer and the response I got was..."find out more, we're not ruling it out but the cost to administer it may outweigh the benefits".

So I guess I'll have to dig...if anyone finds a more concise explanation of how it will work let us know.

The League of American Bicyclists?

I think I'm going to have fun with this one. My corporate masters have a profoundly inept local HR setup, and it's going to be interesting to see if they can figure this out. The last time I tried dealing with them, they couldn't even produce the promised discount baseball tickets! On the other hand, they pride themselves on being "green."

$20.00 per month isn't much, but it's actually about right for basic maintenance and the odd improvement. It would be nice, of course, if they were just going to buy me a new all carbon ride built to my peculiar specifications (after all what's another trillion dollars - so we could ALL get new bikes?) I doubt that's going to happen, though.

League of American Bicyclists is working on standardizing some of the items in the bill to help employers implement a reimbursement program.

http://www.bikeleague.org/news/100708faq.php

Again, the $20 per month is essentially a gift from the government to you through your employer; it's not a $20/month tax deduction, it's cash.

The best-known national group is the League of American Bicyclists (Bikeleague), but there are other important ones too such as the Thunderhead Alliance, Bikes Belong (an industry group), and of course IMBA for mountain bikers.

Of these, IMBA seems to be the most organized and effective, in my humble opinion -- way ahead in patronage, programs, and participation.

In Ohio, the Ohio Bicycling Federation is the statewide advocacy group.

You can always start with your local bike club though.

Look at the last 3 paragraphs of this article. Anyone else has jobs this cool that encourage you not to use your car?.

http://www.sacbee.com/304/story/1305884.html

Bailout has a boost for bike commuters
By Tony Bizjak - tbizjak@sacbee.com

Last Updated 10:02 am PDT Saturday, October 11, 2008
Story appeared in OUR REGION section, Page B1

Bicycle commuters, Congress has your back.

Buried deep in the federal Emergency Economic Stabilization Act – the $700 billion Wall Street bailout – is an unexpected boost for the greenest of commuters.

With a tax-code change, beginning in January, companies can give up to $20 a month to workers who pedal to work. It would be tax-free to cycling commuters, and a tax write-off for employers.

Riders would use the subsidy to defray commute costs, such as bike tires or lights, helmets or rental fees for bike lockers at work.

The author, Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., said cyclists deserve a subsidy – albeit small – like the handouts some companies offer commuters who use transit or carpools, and even car drivers for parking costs.

"We shouldn't discriminate against people who burn calories instead of fossil fuel," said Blumenauer, who bikes daily to his congressional office.

Blumenauer, ironically, voted against his own bill this month because it was inserted at the last minute with other energy measures into the mammoth bailout package, which he opposed.

"It's frustrating," he said.

Sacramento cyclists, however, pronounced it good news.

"It's about time," said Walt Seifert of Sacramento Area Bicycle Advocates. "I hope employers jump on the chance to offer it."

Employers who offer a subsidy can determine who qualifies and how much they should get.

Several cyclists joked they'd use it to buy alternative fuel – Starbucks coffee.

"Hey, it's replacing the calories I burn," said Phil Vulliet, an engineer with Mark Thomas and Co. in Sacramento.

Mega-rider Carlos Casillas, who rides "rain or shine" between Davis and work downtown, figures he could save three months' worth and buy "some rubber." Good bike tires cost up to $60, but last only 3,000 miles. Casillas rode that much last May alone, during the region's annual bike mileage competition.

Census data from 2007 show that just 1.8 percent of Sacramento commuters ride bikes to work, although riders say they are seeing more cyclists on the streets this year because of higher gas prices.

Advocate Seifert and others say the federal subsidy serves as a statement that cyclists are equal members of Sacramento's commute society.

But Marilyn Bryant, a downtown transportation coordinator for businesses, said it may take some time before government agencies offer the subsidies because many of their employee benefits are part of negotiated union contracts.

Jack Paddon, a principal with Williams + Paddon Architects + Planners in Roseville, said it's something his company would consider.

"It's not a huge incentive," he said. "But it could be one of those enhancements to get more folks to consider bicycles as a commuting option."

As the bike commuting population grows, however, employers face new expenses, including providing bike parking, showers and even company cars for meetings.

One bike commuter, J.J. Hurley, says the federal subsidy idea is great, but he doesn't need it.

His employer, the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District, already offers employees $4.25 to spend as they please every day they ride a bike to work. It matches the transit incentive the agency offers employees.

"It's a cool subsidy," Hurley said. Plus, it makes sense for him. "I work in land use. I have to practice what I preach."

wow sure is a lot more excitement about this than I expected.

Why isn't anyone commenting about how they just about bought Earl Blumenauer's vote with this silliness? Why no outrage that this worthless bill turned into a barrel of pork?

I think it's a bit premature to be excited. We're looking at a possible default of government bonds, and even currency collapse in the next two years. I think we're led by a bunch of traitors! They voted to reward the jerks who got us to this point by getting out of control with the over-the-counter derivatives markets since 1999. With only 10% of banks reporting, credit default swaps are something like $55 trillion (just under the annual GDP of the entire planet -- and only 10% volunteered this info!). The system is so intertwined with itself, according to the BIS the total derivatives notional value is > 1.2 quadrillion. Our awesome responsible government will be spending 1 trillion more than it has next year. Not even considering all the entitlements the government is on the hook for (ss and medicare), we're in increasingly bad shape. All the money they've pumped into the system will eventually be felt, and then people will be comparing it to Weimar after WWI.

Who knows if japan and china will continue to subsidize these idiots through their purchasing of bonds? I promise, they will get together with russia and S.A. and create their own gold-pegged currency basket, and then the repo-man cometh!!