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METRO STAR Vanpool

Looking for a great perk that offers a win-win solution for both employees and your organization? METRO STAR Vanpool is a rideshare service that offers your employees a flexible and reliable ride to work. This creates a variety of benefits:

  • Helps you recruit and retain workers from outlying areas
  • Potentially reduces your payroll taxes and employee taxes
  • Supports employees in arriving on time
  • Eases congestion in the company parking lot and on the road
  • Reduces commuting stress and time
Customer standing in front of METRO STAR Vanpool van.

We're Better Together

According to data from Enterprise and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, incentivizing your workforce to commute together offers a variety of benefits for both employees and your company.

Number of EmployeesParking Spots SavedEmployee SavingsCarbon Emissions Reduced
50042$347,870 per year715,175 lbs. per year
75063$521,805 per year1,072,763 lbs. per year
1,00084$695,740 per year1,430,351 lbs. per year
1,500127$1,043,611 per year2,162,554 lbs. per year
2,000169$1,391,481 per year2,877,730 lbs. per year
2,500212$1,739,351 per year3,609,933 lbs. per year
3,000254$2,087,222 per year4,325,109 lbs. per year
4,000339$2,782,963 per year5,772,488 lbs. per year

Tax Benefits

The 1998 amendment to the Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century (TEA-21) created financial incentives related to commuter benefits for employers and employees. Pick one incentive or a combination, up to a limit of $300 per employee per month. Be sure to contact an attorney or accountant for specific tax guidance.


Subsidy Options

Your company covers employee transportation costs when they commute via mass transit (bus or vanpool). Employees don't pay taxes on the value of this benefit.

Your company shares transit commuting costs with employees and everyone can receive valuable tax savings. Employers can provide a portion of the cost of taking transit or vanpooling as a tax-free benefit and allow the employee to exchange taxable salary for a tax-free bus or vanpool benefit.

Tax Matters

It's when you offer employees the option to “cash out” of their existing parking space. In other words, you can offer your employees their parking space cost in the form of taxable salary or tax-free transportation benefits.

No. When employees exchange taxable salary for a tax-free bus or vanpool benefit, the amount exchanged isn't subject to payroll taxes. Employees save money because this reduces their amount of taxable income.

Next Steps

Our team analyzes your firm’s current transportation situation through zip code density maps and employee transportation surveys. Based on the data, we then work with you to match riders to specific METRO transit services, conduct workshops and fairs, and offer discounts to qualified riders. Email us at STAR@RideMETRO.org or engage with us in any of the following ways:


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