Increase of Tax Benefits for Transit and Vanpool Riders
Qualified transportation fringe benefits have increased for 2005. The
amount of transportation fringe benefits provided by an employer to any
employee that may be excluded from gross income cannot exceed $105 per
month (up from $100 per month) for mass transit or vanpool
transportation, and $200 per month (from $195) for qualified
parking.
According to the IRS, “qualified parking” is defined as
parking
provided to an employee on or near the business premises of the employer or
on or near a location from which the employee commutes to work by mass
transit, a commuter highway vehicle (vanpool), or a carpool. A
commuter highway vehicle (vanpool) is defined as a 7 or more passenger
vehicle (including the driver). Eighty percent or more of the vanpool
mileage is reasonably expected to be used for transporting employees between
their residences and their place of employment and at least half of the
adult seating capacity (excluding the driver) is used by employees for this
purpose.
Employers and Employees Benefit
By
allowing employees to reserve pre-tax income for transit or
vanpool expenses, the employer avoids paying FICA taxes on the money
set aside by employees for these expenses, and employees pay no FICA or
federal income tax on the same money.
Employers may also increase the transportation benefit to employees by
electing to pay all or part of an employee’s transit or vanpool expenses
(up to $105
per month). In the case of employer-paid transportation benefits, the
employer avoids FICA taxes on the dollar amount paid for the benefit (an
employer would have to pay FICA taxes if the same amount were paid as a
salary increase) and the employee receives the transit or vanpool benefit
at no out-of-pocket cost and without having to pay FICA taxes on it.
While
the value of such a transportation benefit program to employees is obvious,
an employer also receives benefits beyond the savings on FICA taxes.
Other business advantages include improved recruitment and retention rate,
reduced parking costs, provision of new low-cost employee benefit, and
stronger community image.
HARTline Introduces Hybrid Buses!
The Hillsborough Area
Regional Transit Authority (HART) demonstrated its ongoing commitment to clean air today by announcing the addition of three General Motors hybrid
buses, which offer greater fuel economy and cleaner emissions than
conventional diesel buses. Just how efficient are they? Here is a sneak
preview.
The hybrid buses use small
engines with powerful electric batteries and boast of regenerative braking.
What is regenerative braking? It is when an electric motor can
create torque to drive its wheels and reverse the process to create
electricity. It would be like someone adding a bit of fuel to your tank
every time you brake. This is a great opportunity for the stop and go routes
typical of buses.
As for pollution,
precursors to ozone such as hydrocarbons are reduced up to 90%. Exhaust emissions become the equivalent of natural gas-powered automobiles. Noise
pollution is also fading into the past. Soon passengers aboard a hybrid bus
will enjoy a quieter trip. But will it save money?
HART projects that these
buses will save 20 – 25% compared to conventional buses in the fleet. As
technology advances, hybrid buses should be able to consistently perform at
a high level of efficiency.
In addition to saving the
ozone and saving money, the new
low floor handicap accessible buses are clean and comfortable. The
acceleration and stops are so smooth you almost forget you are on a bus.
These hybrids also require less routine
maintenance, like oil changes and brake replacement, than regular buses. So
climb aboard the newest advancement in transportation technology brought to
you by HARTline. The first three buses will be placed on HART’s busiest
routes to take advantage of the stop and go advantage of hybrid technology.
Pull out your HARTline
passes and hop aboard the latest transportation advancement in Tampa Bay!
These multi-gifted buses will be cruising on a route near you!
'Tow to Go' Keeps 756 Potential Drivers
Off the Road During the Holidays
For
the sixth straight year,
AAA Auto Club
South and Budweiser
provided ‘Tow to Go’ to help make the holidays safer for everyone. This
year’s campaign kept almost 800 potential drunk drivers off the road.
“We’re more
than happy to help
those folks who found themselves in dangerous situations
during the holidays, but ‘Tow to Go’ doesn’t stop there,” said Ed Schatzman,
senior vice
president of automotive services for AAA Auto Club South. “Getting people
to plan ahead by
using a Designated Driver or staying where they celebrate, is the other half
of our message and
that accomplishes the same goal – making the roads safer for everyone.”
Created in 1998, ‘Tow to
Go’ fights drunk-driving by offering a free ride home and a free tow to
adults who may have had too much to drink. The program is available
throughout the entire state of Florida,
the metro Atlanta area, and the metro Nashville area. It expanded this year
to include Savannah, Georgia. The program runs from Thanksgiving Day through New Year’s Day.
AAA and Budweiser encourage
individuals to plan for a safe celebration every holiday season by being or
choosing a ‘Designated Driver’, or by calling ‘Tow to Go’ during the time
period that it is
available.
This year, the Southwest Airlines Gasparilla
Pirate Fest is scheduled for January 29, 2005. That event, along with the
opening season game for the Tampa Bay Storm at the St. Petersburg Times Forum,
will likely bring hundreds of thousands of people to downtown
Tampa.
That’s precisely why you should leave your car at home and hop on
the HARTline Gasparilla Shuttle from Raymond James Stadium.
HARTline is providing a continuous shuttle service from Raymond James Stadium
to two locations in downtown Tampa. The shuttle will drop off riders at the
corner of Jefferson and Whiting or Hyde Park Avenue and DeLeon Street—depending
on which shuttle you hop on. There will be two shuttles leaving Raymond James
Stadium departing to each location from 9:00am to 12:00midnight.
Just drive to Raymond James Stadium and park your car for FREE.
Round trip shuttle service is only $7.00 per person. To access Raymond
James Stadium for parking and shuttle tickets, enter Lot 1 off Martin Luther
King Jr. Boulevard. Shuttle tickets can be purchased only on Saturday,
January 29, 2005 at Raymond James Stadium.
For more information, call the Gasparilla ticket
& info line at (813) 353-8108 or visit the website at
www.gasparillapiratefest.com.
2005 Gasparilla Route runs Saturday January 4
from 9 a.m. - midnight
Want to save money & make
better use of your time by carpooling or vanpooling-
but don't know anyone to share the commute with?
We may be able to help! Join the regional rideshare
database by following the link on the Commuter page of our website, www.newnorthalliance.org,
or by calling 813-974-9799 to speak with a New North Transportation
Alliance representative.
Vanpool from Riverview to USF
Area looking for more riders.
The newest vanpool to the New North area has room for two
more riders. The vanpool travels from Riverview to the Moffitt Cancer
Center and VA Hospital. Work hours are 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. If you
are interested in joining this vanpool, call Bay Area Commuter Services at
1-800-998-RIDE.
