--- On Wed, 9/3/08, Jordan Hayes <jmhayes at j-o-r-d-a-n.com> wrote:
> About the closest you get to something like this in the US
> is things
> like TransitChek, where employers who sign up can give
> their employees
> transit purchases with pre-tax dollars. This obviously
> helps lower
> income folks more than it does higher income folks, but
> it's not good
> enough.
[WS:] Correct. Only the first $110 is tax free (as opposed to $240 for parking), which in th best case scenatio offers about $40 savings for those who are in uppwer income brackets. That is, higher earners save more than lower earners.
Tax savings are not enough to increase the attractiveness of public transit in US. Discount fares (50% or more) would travel much further. For example, a MARC pass between Baltimore and Washington is $175/mo less $40 in tax savings = $135. That is about as much as gas for a fuel efficient vehicle (such as my 1995 Saturn), but driving is generally faster. However, if the MARC pass were reduced to, say, $50 per month or even less for low income earners, that would be about $85 savings, more for low income earners whose tax credit is lower. That would count quite a bit for low income earners.
Wojtek