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RIDESHARE - employer commuting benefits

Employer reasons | Transportation options | Employer resources

Reasons to become a commuter benefits employer 

• Recognition as an employer who provides commuter benefits and is a good community leader and neighbor.

  • The award for the Best Workplaces for Commuters is given to employers who offer commuter option programs and meet the National Standard of Excellence criteria. Join other Wisconsin employers in attaining this fast-growing mark of excellence in environmental leadership.
  • By implementing alternate transportation initiatives employers show their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). These initiatives can provide an edge in recruiting and retaining key employees. Employers are finding that “green” efforts for sustainability and environmental impact reduction filters down to their employees.
  • The US Green Building Council (USGBC) provides Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) credits for implemented alternate transportation efforts.

• Tax advantages

  • As an employer, there are tax advantages available to you. Money contributed towards commuting costs of your employees are a tax-free benefit to them and a tax-deductible business expense to you, reducing FICA and other payroll taxes.

• Healthier and more productive employees

  • Employees who use alternate forms of transportation often arrive at work relaxed, less stressed from traffic congestion, and ready to be productive boosting morale and enhancing the work environment.
  • Employees who bike or walk to work are healthier, reducing health insurance claims and sick leave.

• Save on parking needs

  • The more employees who use alternate transportation modes, the less mass parking is needed. You can reinvest the savings back into the company.

Transportation options to offer employees

• Encourage your employees to visit www.rideshare.wi.gov for quick and easy interactive ridematching or emailing their registration information. RIDESHARE can match commuters to other employees in your company or to the entire database. 
• Provide carpool incentives. Offer discounted, preferred, or free parking spaces for carpoolers.
• Offer a Guaranteed Ride Program. The number one deterrent to commuters using other modes of transportation is the fear of being stranded in case of an emergency or other unplanned event. Employers who offer a guaranteed ride when an unforeseen event occurs can help overcome this barrier. For more information on how to develop a program that is fair for all employees, e-mail the RIDESHARE Program Manager, Karen Schmiechen at: karen.schmiechen@dot.state.wi.us
• SE Wisconsin employers can participate in the Emergency Ride Reimbursement program. The state supports alternative transportation options and guaranteed ride programs in urban areas by offering a partial reimbursement to companies for the costs incurred for sending someone home in an emergency. For more information e-mail the RIDESHARE coordinator, Karen Schmiechen at: karen.schmiechen@dot.state.wi.us
• Share TransTalk with your employees. TransTalk provides brief tips on ridesharing, park and ride lots, bike and pedestrian trails, highway construction, transit, and other multi-modal transportation that can be inserted into your employee newsletter.
• Offer commuter tax benefits on a pre-tax basis. Federal tax code allows tax-free transportation fringe benefits of up to $115 per month per employee for transit or vanpool expenses and up to $220 per month for parking.
• Consider parking cash-out. If you are paying or leasing parking from a second party or subsidize urban parking costs for your employees, you can return some of that cost back to the employees who agree to take alternate transportation to work.
• Invite on-site services. A Wisconsin RIDESHARE representative is available to acquaint employees about RIDESHARE services during lunch or break times in a common area. Offer a transportation fair to acquaint your employees with commuting options and opportunities from local transit, bike and pedestrian programs, park and ride lots, and rail travel.
• Investigate the benefits of flexible work options. Employees traveling at times other than peak travel times contribute to good air quality because they are not idling in congestive traffic. Tele-working or working four 10-hour days takes vehicles off the road for one or more commuting days a week.
• Encourage bike or pedestrian commuting. Employers benefit from having healthier employees who bike or walk to work. Offer secure bike parking areas, showers, and lockers as an incentive.

Transportation and environmental resources

• Milwaukee County Transit System Programs (MCTS) - MCTS will consult individually with an employer to help determine which of their corporate transit programs best meet the organization's commuting goals.
  (414) 343-1777
• Wisconsin Partners for Clean Air (WPCA) - Become a member of a coalition of more than 260 businesses, community organizations, schools, and government agencies who work in partnership to improve air quality through voluntary action.
  (414) 263-8657
• Public Transit information

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Questions about the content of this page, contact:
Karen Schmiechen, karen.schmiechen@dot.wi.gov
Last modified: November 3, 2009