For Employers

WHAT IS TDM?

Transit agencies use Transportation Demand Management programs to help commuters choose sustainable travel choices such as walking, biking, taking transit or carpooling over driving alone in cars.

How employees get to their jobs in the rapidly growing Triangle often affects recruitment, retention and morale at a company. GoTriangle’s Sustainable Travel Services department helps employers across the Triangle set up and support alternative commuting options for their workers. Because GoTriangle’s TDM department is funded with grants, all of its consulting and planning services are free.

Implementing TDM programs at your worksite can help you:

• Recruit and retain employees.
• Create more satisfied and less stressed employees, increasing productivity.
• Increase accessibility for employees, clients and customers.
• Reduce costs for parking.
• Create better relations with local communities and neighborhoods by reducing congestion and parking and improving local air quality.
• Improve the health of employees.
• Increase corporate social responsibility.
• Emergency preparedness through commuter travel.

GoPass

GoPass is a free transit pass that employers, property managers or developers offer to employees and tenants. Tenants and employees ride for FREE for one year on all transit routes in the Triangle with any agency when commuting to and from work. It’s a win-win benefit to offer because you are billed only for actual boardings at a fraction of the published transit fare. GoPass is available for and best-suited to those with mroe than 100 employees.

In addition to benefiting tenants and employees, offering a GoPass also helps a developer or property manager:

• Attract and retain tenants and employees in the city center by removing concerns about parking.
• Get individuals out of the habit of commuting to and from work via single occupancy vehicles. 
• Help reduce congestion and parking demand, while creating available space for customers, retail and employer growth. 
• Create a less stressful commute to work while saving gas and money and improving air quality.

See the list of Triangle organizations thatcurrently offer the GoPass and/or other transit incentives.

Tax Incentives

On Oct  19, 2017, the IRS  issued Revenue Procedure 2017-58. “For tax year 2018, the monthly limitation for the qualified transportation fringe benefit is $260, as is the monthly limitation for qualified parking.” The 2017 limit is $255 per month as noted below. The bicycle benefit remains unchanged at $20 per month.

Section 132(f) of the Internal Revenue Code allows employers to provide tax-free benefits to employees related to transit, vanpools, parking and bike-to-work; these Qualified Transportation Fringe Benefits are commonly referred to as commuter benefits. Businesses may deduct the administrative cost of these employer-paid benefits from their gross incomes for purposes of taxation. Both the employer and employee save on taxes since they do not pay federal income or payroll taxes on these benefits.

Under the tax code, employers may offer these Qualified Transportation Fringe Benefits in one of six ways:

1. Subsidizing an employee up to $255 per month for transit and commuter highway vehicles (e.g., vanpool).
2. Subsidizing an employee up to $255 per month for parking.
3. Allowing an employee to reduce his or her income on a pre-tax basis to cover the costs of transit and vanpools up to $255 per month.
4. Allowing an employee to reduce his or her income on a pre-tax basis to cover the costs of parking up to $255 per month.
5. Sharing the costs of the benefit with the employee; under current law, transit and vanpool expenses up to $255 per month and/or qualified parking expenses up to $255 per month are tax-free.
6. Reimbursing an employee up to $20 per month ($240 per year) for eligible expenses incurred for bicycling to work on a regular basis.

Vanpool Subsidy

Every business knows that the secret to success is minimizing expenses, attracting key talent and retaining good employees. With vanpool you can provide your employees with an incentive that saves them money, benefits the environment, reduces traffic and parking congestion and helps your business be more sustainable.  Vanpool is a benefit-driven shared commuting option that has myriad benefits, including: 

• Pre-tax benefits for each participating employee.
• Fewer cars in your parking lot.
• Reduced parking expenses.
• Greener, more environmentally friendly commutes.
• The potential of offering employees the ability to save money while they earn money.
• An enticement to prospects with lengthy commutes of a more cost-effective way to get to work.

GoPerks

GoTriangle has developed the GoPerks program to encourage Triangle-area drivers to try something besides riding alone and to support smart commuters to keep up the good work. The GoPerks program offers prize drawings to smart commuters to aid GoTriangle’s goal of reducing traffic, helping employees save money and improving our environment and quality of life.

GoPerks is a great way to promote your company’s social responsibility goals and gain brand awareness across the Triangle. Partnerships with employers and local businesses help us offer reward programs that employees enjoy. Learn more about GoPerks.

Parking Management

Just paving a space for every car you expect to visit your location each day isn't the best decision on providing parking. Parking is expensive. Parking deck spaces average about $16,000 a year to build and maintain in the Triangle. Unused parking spaces in paved lots could have been more development or greenspace.

Most businesses or residences in the Triangle rely on parking – but how much parking do you really need? Not all employees are at work all of the time. And what’s the most efficient way to maximize usage and minimize costs or tradeoffs?

Need more parking spaces or don’t have enough real estate?

• You don’t need a space for every employee since arrival, departure and in-office schedules vary, as well as vacation and sick leave.
• Preferential parking for carpools and vanpools can decrease the number of parked vehicles by demonstrating benefits and options to driving alone.
• Sharing space with a nearby business or multi-family housing may be a solution since the parking spaces will be needed at different times of the day.
• Frequent transit service to your location may reduce the number of spaces you’re required to build depending on your municipality.

Parking is expensive to provide, so don’t pay or pave more than you actually need. Our employer services staff can discuss how to maximize parking based on your needs and location as well as how to leverage transportation options.