Westchester County Department of Transportation

The Commute-n-Save Program is a great cost-effective, value-added benefit.  Provisions in the Internal Revenue Code allow your company greater flexibility in offering this benefit that works for you and your company. It works for business. It works for the economy. It works for the environment. Let it work for you.

Westchester’s Federal Commuter Choice Program Option
Tax-free commuter benefits, also known as qualified transportation fringes, are employer provided voluntary benefit programs that allow employees to reduce their monthly commuting expenses for transit, vanpooling, bicycling and work-related parking costs.

As of Jan. 1, 2023, if your company offers this fringe benefit, you are eligible to use up to $300 a month of your pre-tax income for transportation costs. Your company can offer commuter benefits in the form of tax-free employer-paid subsidies, pre-tax employee-paid payroll deductions, or a combination of both.

Save Money with Pre-Tax Commuter Benefits
The employee’s taxable income is lowered, since commuting costs are deducted from their income using pre-tax paycheck dollars. The company’s payroll taxes are also lowered by the total amount that all employees contribute pre-tax, because that amount is no longer categorized as taxable payroll dollars (wages or salary) for your business.

What Pre-Tax Commuter Benefits Can Be Used for                                                                                  
Commuter, transit or transportation benefits are a way for employers to let employees use pre-tax dollars for their work-related transportation expenses, such as:

• Transit passes: bus, train, subway, ferry
• Parking fees
• Vanpooling

Ease and Flexibility in Offering the Benefit
Provisions in the Internal Revenue Code for the qualified transportation fringe benefit make it easier for companies to offer public transportation benefits to their employees. This Federal transportation fringe benefit is exempt from the complex use restrictions common to flexible spending accounts (FSA). It is excluded from the cafeteria plans under section 132(f) of the Internal Revenue Code. Your company will not have to write a plan document or obtain IRS approval.

So there is less paperwork. There are no irrevocable elections or forms. This pre-tax fringe benefit can be started at any time of the year. The Smart Commute team will guide you through the process and offers free educational tabling events to explain pre-tax commuter benefits to your employees.

Call (914) 995-4444 for details or contact us at .

Many of Westchester County’s employers, building owners and managers are realizing that traffic congestion is a growing problem, having negative impact on the business community and our quality of life.

The Westchester County Department of Public Works and Transportation has developed Westchester’s Smart Commute program to alert both employers, building owners and managers and their employees and tenants of various strategies to increase the use of transit and other alternatives in order to help reduce drive-alone commuting.

Over 100 employers are enrolled in the program and receive free commuting benefits for employees and others traveling to their location, including:

• Transportation Information Fairs that can be held at your work site
• The $Commute-n-Save Program$ that gets employees to work using pre-tax salary dollars, and saves employers on payroll related taxes
• A Commute Information Rack with restocking service to make transit schedules available at your location
• Worksite survey and "Go Green" commuting plan tailored to the needs of your worksite, and enabling your employees to reduce their carbon footprint

For more information about the program or to become a member,  call (914) 995-4444.

What is a work site Smart Commute program?
A Work Site Smart Commute program is an array of strategies implemented at an employment location that are designed to promote and encourage employees or tenants to consider and use alternatives to driving-alone to work.

To be most effective, the program should enjoy management support from the very top. Additionally, a staff person at the work location should be assigned Smart Commute program responsibilities that only needs to be just a part of his or her assigned work.

What are commute alternatives?
Commute alternatives are the various ways of getting to and from work. Employees at your work site select the way they commute based on their work hours, location of the work site, the nature of their work, the need to do personal errands and, of course, the cost.

Employers can help employees find a smarter way to get to work with the help of Westchester’s Smart Commute program which can provide employees with specific information about transit, carpooling, vanpooling and other options.

Employers can also sponsor programs such as telecommuting, alternate work schedules, a guaranteed ride home program, and incentives to promote commute alternatives.

Why commute alternatives?
Growing traffic congestion threatens our quality of life. Traffic congestion is a major problem nationwide as frustrated businesses and commuters waste an astonishing $72 billion in fuel and time each year. Traffic congestion can waste energy; delay the delivery of goods and services; result in employee tardiness; create stress; pollute the air and raise the cost of both living and doing business in our county.

Benefits of a Smart Commute program at your work site
Studies show that employer involvement greatly improves the use of commute alternatives among employees. Everybody wins.

Your company or organization wins through:

• Improved employee productivity
• Improved morale
• Easier recruitment and retention
• Reduced parking and office space needs/costs
• Reduced absenteeism and late arrivals
• Public recognition as a good corporate citizen 

Your employees win through:

• Reduced commuting time and expense
• Reduced wear and tear on personal vehicles
• Less stress
• Productive use of time while taking transit or ridesharing
• Flexible work schedules and arrangements  

Our community wins through:

• Easier travel on streets and highways
• Increased economic vitality
• Economic development benefits
• Reducing our carbon footprint
• Improved overall quality of life

As part of Westchester’s SMART COMMUTE Program, we will provide a Transportation Fair at your work site. Your fair will be tailored to your location and may be as big or as small as you would like.

An information table, for example, can be set up in a common area of your worksite during lunch hour where employees can learn about their commute options in a casual atmosphere.

The Commute Alternatives Division of the Department of Public Works and Transportation will provide flyers and/or e-blasts to promote the fair prior to the selected date.  Employers are expected to inspire their employees to use alternative modes of transportation and encourage participation at these events.

At Transportation Fairs, employees have the opportunity to:

• Talk to mass transit representatives to learn about commute options and find a route tailored to their individual needs
• Find a carpool or vanpool partner with 511NY Rideshare's  system  
• Pick up current schedules for buses and trains, along with the Bee-Line System Map in English or Spanish
• Find out about the Pre-Tax Commuter Benefit
• Learn how alternative modes of transportation can help save time and money, reduce stress, reduce your carbon footprint and contribute to a better quality of life

It’s that simple.  It’s a valuable benefit and it's free.

Call (914) 995-1630 for further information or email us at .

To identify the best alternatives to drive-alone commuting for your work site, start at the first box. If yes, go to the next box.

Now, you have identified the best commute alternatives for your work site. Next, you need to build your work site Smart Commute program by developing and implementing strategies to maximize use of these alternatives by employees.

Worksite located within ¼ mile from transit stop	Car not needed for company business by a portion of employees	Transit available to employees
Some employees work semi-independently from one another	Some employees work schedules that do not require rigid start and end times	Some employees can adjust their work schedules
Work performed by some employees can be done independently	Work performed by some employees can be done offsite	Some employees are able to work out of their homes or at a telecenter
Employee home locations are clustered together	Car not needed for company business by majority of employees	Some employees work during normal business hours
Groups of employees commuting 20+ miles on the same corridor	Car not needed for company business by majority of employees	Some employees work during normal business hours
Worksite accessible by bicycle	Majority of employees commute hours are during daylight hours	Worksite has bicycle storage area (racks or enclosed lockers or garages)
Worksite accessible by pedestrians	Majority of employees commute hours are during daylight hours	Worksite has clothing storage areas, such as lockers