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RIDESHARE - employer commuting benefits

Employer reasons | Transportation options | Employer resources

Reasons to become a commuter benefits employer 

Why should your company provide commuter transportation options to your employees?

• If you are instituting ‘green initiatives’ and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices, commuter benefit options for employees fit right in. Those initiatives can often give you an edge in recruiting and retaining employees who value companies that offer commuter transportation options and incentives.
• These initiatives give mark you as a community leader and good business neighbor who takes an interest in air quality and helping to solve transportation/congestion problems.
• As an employer, there are tax advantages available to you. Money contributed towards commuting costs of your employees are a tax-free benefit to them and a tax-deductible business expense to you, reducing FICA and other payroll taxes.
• Employees who use alternate forms of transportation often arrive at work relaxed, less stressed from traffic congestion, and ready to be productive. They boost morale and enhance the work environment.
• Employees who bike or walk to work are healthier, reducing health insurance claims and sick leave.
• The more employees who use alternate transportation modes, the less mass parking is needed. You can reinvest the savings back into the company.
• Employers who value commuter option programs receive recognition. Employers that meet the National Standard of Excellence are awarded the Best Workplaces for Commuters designation. Join other SE Wisconsin employers in attaining this fast-growing mark of excellence in environmental leadership.

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Transportation options to offer employees

• Share TransTalk with your employees. TransTalk provides brief tips on ridesharing, park and ride lots, bike and pedestrian trails, highway construction, transit, and other multi-modal transportation that can be inserted into your employee newsletter.
• Encourage your employees to visit www.rideshare.wi.gov for quick and easy interactive ridematching or emailing their registration information. RIDESHARE can match commuters to other employees in your company or to the entire database. 
• Provide carpool incentives. Offer discounted, preferred, or free parking spaces for carpoolers.
• Offer a Guaranteed Ride Program. The number one deterrent to commuters using other modes of transportation is the fear of being stranded in case of an emergency or other unplanned event. Employers who offer a guaranteed ride when an unforeseen event occurs can help overcome this barrier. For more information on how to develop a program that is fair for all employees, e-mail the RIDESHARE Program Manager, Karen Schmiechen at: karen.schmiechen@dot.state.wi.us 
• Sign up for the Emergency Ride Reimbursement program. The state supports alternative transportation options and guaranteed ride programs. One way we show that support is to partially reimburse your company when that ride costs you money. The state offers a modest reimbursement each time someone from your company needs an emergency ride. For more information e-mail the RIDESHARE coordinator, Karen Schmiechen at: karen.schmiechen@dot.state.wi.us
• Offer commuter tax benefits on a pre-tax basis. Federal tax code allows tax-free transportation fringe benefits of up to $115 per month per employee for transit or vanpool expenses and up to $220 per month for parking.
• Consider parking cash-out. If you are paying or leasing parking from a second party or subsidize urban parking costs for your employees, you can return some of that cost back to the employees who agree to take alternate transportation to work.
• Invite on-site services. A southeast Wisconsin RIDESHARE representative is available to acquaint employees about RIDESHARE services during lunch or break times in a common area. Offer a transportation fair to acquaint your employees with commuting options and opportunities from local transit, bike and pedestrian programs, park and ride lots, and rail travel.
• Investigate the benefits of flexible work options. Employees traveling at times other than peak travel times contribute to good air quality because they are not idling in congestive traffic. Tele-working or working four 10-hour days takes vehicles off the road for one or more commuting days a week.
• Encourage bike or pedestrian commuting. Employers benefit from having healthier employees who bike or walk to work. Offer secure bike parking areas, showers, and lockers as an incentive.

Transportation and environmental resources

• Milwaukee County Transit System Programs (MCTS). MCTS will consult individually with an employer to help determine which of their corporate transit programs best meet the organization's commuting goals. (414) 343-1777
• Wisconsin Partners for Clean Air (WPCA). Become a member of a coalition of more than 260 businesses, community organizations, schools, and government agencies who work in partnership to improve air quality through voluntary action. (414) 263-8657
• Public Transit information

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Questions about the content of this page:
Karen Schmiechen, karen.schmiechen@dot.state.wi.us
Last modified: January 8, 2008