Commuter Benefits
Commuter benefits are a simple way for employers and employees to save money. Put in place to encourage the use of public transportation, these programs allow employers and employees to use pre-tax dollars to pay for a variety of commuting expenses. Commuter benefits are meant to help commuters traveling long distances to work. They give commuters discounts on public transport or parking and businesses events and products. Employees can also use these benefits to take public transportation to work without the hassle of driving around the city, parking their cars, and purchasing tickets.
Your employees’ wellness affects their health — and your bottom line. A recent study found that unhealthy workers cost companies $1.1 trillion in lost productivity annually. And providing healthcare for obese employees costs $12.7 billion due to increased costs in healthcare, sick leave, disability, and life insurance. Commuter benefits can help.
B3PA is a Commuter Benefits Administrator. We have a team of experts that can help you with your commute benefits needs. We have extensive knowledge of the field, which helps us provide the best solutions to their clients.
• Your employees enroll in the benefit and contribute pre-tax and post-tax dollars to cover expenses.
• You track + update payroll deductions.
• Your employees pay for their commute using their benefits debit card. They can also use their commuter benefits to add to their transit or parking app with an autoload program or to purchase fares online or at a ticket vending machine.
• Transit: They can use their benefits debit card or mobile app to pay for eligible mass transit (buses, ferries, trains, and more) along with vanpooling services like uberPOOL, VIA or Lyft Shared to or from work
• Parking: Their commuter funds are eligible using SpotHero, and they can use their benefits debit card at parking garages, lots, and facilities across the city.
• Your employees use ONE platform, ONE debit card, and can use our mobile app on the go.
2022 Mileage Rates & Contribution Limits
Contribution Limits
Commuter benefits | $280 per month |
For the final 6 months of 2022, the standard mileage rate for business travel will be 62.5 cents per mile, up 4 cents from the rate effective at the start of the year. The new rate for deductible medical or moving expenses (available for active-duty members of the military) will be 22 cents for the remainder of 2022, up 4 cents from the rate effective at the start of 2022. These new rates become effective July 1, 2022.
Purpose | Rates 1/1 through 6/30/22 | Rates 7/1 through 12/31/22 |
Business | 58.5 | 62.5 |
Medical/Moving | 18 | 22 |
Charitable | 14 | 14 |
Can Commuter Benefits Help Us?
The answer is yes!
Employees can save 40% or more on their monthly commuting costs. Employers save an average of $40 per month for each participating employee.
Employees Will
Your employees enroll in the benefit and contribute pre-tax and post-tax dollars to cover expenses.
• You track + update payroll deductions.
• Your employees pay for their commute using their benefits debit card. They can also use their commuter benefits to add to their transit or parking app, with an autoload program, or to purchase fares online or at a ticket vending machine.
• Transit: They can use their benefits debit card or mobile app to pay for eligible mass transit (buses, ferries, trains, and more) along with vanpooling services like uberPOOL, VIA or Lyft Shared to or from work.
• Parking: Their commuter funds are eligible using SpotHero and they can use their benefits debit card at parking garages, lots, and facilities across the city.
• Your employees use ONE platform, ONE debit card, and can use our mobile app when they’re on the go.
Employers Will
• Save money by using pre-tax dollars to pay for transit to-and-from work.
• Use streamlined payment solutions (no paper forms, here!) that can be customized based on their preferred form of transportation.
• Use ONE platform to access both their commuter CDH benefits.
Commuter benefits encourage your employees to ditch the tiring task of driving to and from work every day while providing them with flexible ways to save money through pre-tax dollars. And these pre-tax benefits help your business reduce its payroll tax burden.
Less time Driving:
There’s never enough time in the workday. The average American works somewhere between 44 hours and 47 hours every week. One-third of employees work more than 50 hours per week, which doesn’t include the time spent driving to and from work. These time commitments threaten employees’ abilities to maintain a healthy work-life balance and lead to employee burnout.
Encouraging employees to take mass transit or vanpooling helps them avoid the adverse effects driving can have on their brain and mental well-being. When they’re riding instead of driving, they can also spend time on other things, whether it’s catching up on personal emails, listening to a meditation, or starting their day with a favorite podcast or music. This may put them in a better state of mind entering and leaving work.
SRC: Wex
What do commuter benefits cover?
Mass Transit:
Commuter benefits can be used for expenses incurred for a pass, fare card, voucher, or similar transportation items on mass transit. Mass transit examples include trains, buses, and subways.
Parking:
Eligible parking expenses include amounts paid for parking your vehicle at or near work or at a location used to commute to work (such as a park-and-ride facility).
Vanpooling:
Funds can be used for expenses incurred in a commuter highway vehicle, defined as any vehicle that seats at least six adults, not including the driver. At least 80 percent of the mileage in the car must be used to transport employees to and from work, and the number of employees is, on average, at least half of the adult seating capacity of the vehicle. Lyft Shared and uberPOOL comply with IRS vanpooling regulations.
What isn’t Included?
Commuter benefits cannot be used to pay for tolls, taxis, gasoline, mileage, business trip costs, airport parking fees, or residential parking fees.
Healthier Results:
Your employees’ wellness affects their health—and your bottom line. A recent study found that unhealthy workers cost companies $1.1 trillion in lost productivity annually.11 And providing healthcare for obese employees costs $12.7 billion due to increased costs in healthcare, sick leave, disability, and life insurance.
Decreased Stress:
Employee stress can lead to long-term health issues, including heart disease, obesity, diabetes, and depression. And stress can have more immediate and damaging effects on a business, leading to missed deadlines, employee turnover, and damage to your company’s image. Unfortunately, the drive to and from work can be a significant stress trigger. Giving employees pre-tax incentives to take mass transit or vanpooling can help reduce stress, which increases the productivity and effectiveness of your business. And the financial incentive and tax savings that come with commuter benefits also alleviate another important stress trigger, since nearly half of workers say financial stress has caused them to miss work or has reduced their productivity.