Many municipalities are now requiring that employers offer commuter benefits programs for their employees. Essentially, commuter benefits work similarly to health benefits; if you work so many hours, your employer offers a solution to your daily commute to work that they are ultimately responsible for providing and executing. It is a pre-tax benefit, just like health insurance programs. Since 2009, beginning with cities in the Bay Area of California, several other major cities have implemented laws for companies to provide transportation solutions for the people who work for them.
Even if you aren’t required by your city’s legislation to provide transit for your employees, it still can be a competitive advantage to attract workers to your company and fill open positions quickly. If you are required to provide transportation for your employees by law, or are curious as to what that looks like and where this is happening here are some basic characteristics of commuter benefits ordinances:
Here is a brief breakdown of each city with an ordinance or law, and any special circumstances for each individual city that makes it unique from another:
Signed: October 20, 2014
Effective: January 1, 2016
Grace Period: 6 months
Requirements:
Violations:
If you're a big company with lots of employees, the violations will add up quickly.
Signed: October 8, 2018
Effective: January 1, 2020
Grace Period: 1 year
Requirements:
Violations:
Signed: 2014
Effective: January 1, 2016
Grace Period: 1 year
Requirements:
Violations:
Signed: Fall 2012
Effective: November 1, 2014
Grace Period: N/A
Requirements:
Violations:
Effective: 2009
Grace Period: N/A
Requirements:
Violations:
Signed: September 30, 2012
Effective: March 26, 2014
Grace Period: N/A
Requirements:
Violations:
Signed: March 1, 2019
Effective: March 1, 2020
Grace Period: 1 year
Requirements:
Violations:
Signed: August 20, 2018
Effective: January 1, 2020
Grace Period: 6 months
Requirements:
Violations:
Passed: June 9, 2022
Effective: December 31, 2022
Requirements:
Violations:
Another thing all of these laws and ordinances have in common: an explicit purpose to reduce carbon emissions and pollution. Whether you find these ordinances daunting or impactful, the increased usage of carpooling and public transit has the potential to greatly reduce our carbon footprint, while also providing a competitive advantage to why someone should choose a company that offers commuter benefits over one that doesn’t.
The reality is that commuter benefits laws are only increasing in popularity, especially for large cities. It may be worth researching MaaS companies so that you are either compliant with your state’s policy (hopefully you already are) or are ahead of the curve.