This from the newest APA Advocate newsletter:
In the same week that transit ridership topped 10 billion trips per year for the first time in 49 years, companion bills were introduced in the House and Senate to raise the allowable transit commute benefit to match that for parking. Rep. James McGovern (D-Mass.) and Sen. Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) introduced the "Commuter Benefits Equity Act of 2007" (H.R. 1475 / S. 712). Commuters can now receive up to $110 per month in transit benefits, but the monthly parking benefit is $215.
"Establishing parity between commuter benefits and parking benefits will provide American workers with an incentive to utilize transit for their commute to work," McGovern said. "Enactment of this legislation will help ease congestion, improve air quality, and reduce dependency on foreign oil. It also makes sense for employers who can use it as an effective employment recruitment and retention tool." The measures have been referred to the House Ways and Means Committee and Senate Finance Committee.
Public transit use is up 30 percent since 1995. That's more than double the growth rate of the U.S. population (12 percent) and higher than the growth rate for vehicle miles traveled on U.S. roads (24 percent) during that same period.
Also in the news recently: the LAX FlyAway bus just celebrated its first anniversary, and with 250,000 users over the past year, it has exceeded the projected ridership more than threefold. It's nice to see that that press release comes from the LAWA site, since it's my understanding that historically they've been against transit cutting into their parking revenue.
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