Study: Commuter benefit use prompts switch to transit

Nearly one in five employees signing up for tax-free commuter benefits switches from driving a car to commuting by mass transit to get to work, finds a study conducted by BusinessWeek Research Services (BWRS) and commissioned by TransitCenter Inc., a nonprofit organization providing tax-free transit benefits as a means to promote mass transit use.  

The study also found that 53 percent of employees whose companies don’t currently offer tax-free commuter benefits would participate in a program if it was offered, and among those who reported working at a company offering commuter benefits, 62 percent say they participate in the program. Among employees who signed up for commuter benefits, 41 percent increased their use of mass transit and 46 percent increased their mass transit usage during weekends.  

The study covered 1,048 respondents in Chicago, New York and San Francisco in October 2007. These cities were chosen due to their geographically dispersed markets and high concentration of commuters as identified by the U.S. Census’ 2005 American Community Survey. The survey has a 95 percent confidence level with a margin of error of +/- 3 percent.