The Transportation and Housing Choices for Gas Price Relief Act of 2008

The Transportation and Housing Choices for Gas Price Relief Act of 2008, H.R. 6495, introduced by (who else?) Earl Blumenauer has a bunch of stuff in it for transit and housing, but he didn't forget bicyclists:

•    Extend the same transportation fringe benefits to bike commuters as provided for those who commute by car or transit.

•    Double the authorized funding for the national Safe Routes to School program, to make it possible for more children to walk and bike to school safely; expand this program to include high schools.

•    Provide federal grants to improve communities’ transportation choices, such as travel demand management strategies, carpool or telecommuting projects, upgrades to streets to facilitate bicycle and pedestrian use, intelligent transportation improvements to reduce congestion, and car-sharing and bike sharing programs

He writes about it here

Increase commuter choices for millions of Americans by equalizing the transportation fringe benefit between those who drive and those who take public transit; making the same benefit available for those who commute by bicycling; allowing employees to cash in their parking benefit, so it can be used on other commuting or household needs; extending the transportation fringe benefit to individuals who are self-employed; creating a tax credit for van/carpool expenses and services, as well as for those who telecommute; providing grants to help Americans with information about available transportation choices.

Jim Moran and John Sarbanes are co-sponsors. Where's Norton? With all our government employees and bikable communities, this would be great for DC.

Of course, some companies are not waiting for the government.

Siegel & Strain, an Emeryville architecture firm, reimburses employees who use their bikes to get to work-related meetings away from the office. The firm pays them the same amount it would pay for personal auto use - the IRS rate of 58.5 cents per mile.

The state sets a reimbursement rate of 4 cents per mile for state workers who bike on government business. The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition suggests a reimbursement rate of 10 cents per mile.

A recent AP story covers the unfairness of the law that subsidizes everyone but cyclists.

As a federal employee, Marc Gwadz could receive a stipend to take public transportation to work every day. But since Gwadz rides his bicycle - a more healthy and environmentally friendly approach - he's on his own to cover expenses.

"One parking spot is probably worth tens of thousands of dollars, and they just give it away. If they want people to stop using that spot, you make it more enticing," he said. "People aren't going to change over just because you tell them about it."

Is that Gwadzilla's brother? Anyway, some places try to make up for it

Google, for example, makes donations to employees' favorite charities for each day they commute to work on bicycle, on foot or using inline skates.

At the National Institutes of Health, workers can get five "bike bucks" for every 100 miles they commute, which they can redeem when buying supplies at two local bike shops. The program was the idea of Jill DiMauro, owner of Proteus Bicycles in College Park, Md., after talking to biologist Angela Atwood-Moore, who rides her bike six miles each way to the agency's headquarters in Bethesda, Md.

Comments

[aullman]

The best way that government and employers can help with the fuel crisis is by supporting new initiatives for remote workers. Most office workers can just as easily work remotely as long as they have the proper facilities and support from management.

Remote Office Centers can provide the facilities. Remote Office Centers offer a new but simple solution to the high cost of commuting. Remote Office Centers lease individual offices, internet and phone systems to workers from different companies in shared centers located around the suburbs.

When people have a choice of where their office is located, they can choose their mode of transportation - ie. bike, walking, scooter.

The best way to save fuel is to drive less miles. People who need to be onsite to do their job will benefit from lower overall demand for gas and by having less people on the highways.

Remote Office Centers are fairly new, but they can be found in many cities. There is a free web site for finding and listing centers:

http://www.remoteofficecenters.com

[Jennifer Zucker]

Commuters to Bethesda can find tons of free information about biking, walking, transit, and telecommuting at www.bethesdatransit.org.

[gwadzilla]

yes

gwadzilla's brother

a gwadzilla as well

we are big
our brood is small