Cubic voices opposition to proposed cuts in pre-tax benefits for mass transit

Cubic Transportation Systems has voiced its opposition to the proposed cuts in pre-tax benefits for the Transit Benefit Program available to citizens who use public transportation. Within the Senate Finance Committee, Senators are considering reducing the pre-tax benefit to individuals using public transportation from its current US$245 per month to US$125 per month, close to a 50 per cent cut. Cubic believes it is in the Committee’s best interest to maintain the current transit benefit since promoting pub
August 8, 2013 Read time: 2 mins
378 Cubic Transportation Systems has voiced its opposition to the proposed cuts in pre-tax benefits for the Transit Benefit Program available to citizens who use public transportation.  Within the Senate Finance Committee, Senators are considering reducing the pre-tax benefit to individuals using public transportation from its current US$245 per month to US$125 per month, close to a 50 per cent cut.

Cubic believes it is in the Committee’s best interest to maintain the current transit benefit since promoting public transportation helps the consumer, the economy and the environment, stating that the 50 percent cut under US Senate works against the economy, energy independence and wage earners.

“Developing a legislative plan to review and streamline our current tax code is laudable and to be encouraged.  But to reduce the Transit Benefit program will discourage the millions of citizens and employees who use public transportation as a means of commuting to and from their place of business,” said Steve Shewmaker, president of Cubic Transportation Systems. “This works against our national interest to be energy independent, promote economic growth, reward wage earners and be pro-environment. Moreover, at a time when gasoline prices are at a record high and the U.S. trade balance so negatively impacted by oil imports, the last thing policy makers should be considering is legislation that discourages the use of public transit.  The government should be encouraging our citizens to take advantage of public transportation when and where it is accessible.”

“By financially penalising those who utilise – and often rely on – public transportation, it discourages ridership, prompting more individuals to drive personal vehicles, consume fossil fuels and significantly contribute to growing congestion and pollution of urban areas,” said Shewmaker.  He went on to say that not only would the benefit cuts impact riders but they would negatively affect the transit market as well. Public transit’s growth, accessibility and increased efficiencies for the consumer and transportation authorities are at the heart of the transit business.

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Cost benefit goes under the microscope
    August 21, 2017
    Conventional cost benefit analysis (CBA) of plans for urban smart mobility initiatives needs serious rethinking, according to a recently-completed European study. The three-year Evidence Project (the Project) emerged in response to concerns about the availability and quality of documented research – including CBA – required to prove that investment in sustainable urban mobility plans (SUMPs) can be economically beneficial. Covering 22 sectors ranging from electric vehicles to shared spaces, the Project clai
    Read More
  • Cost benefit analysis ‘can’t be carried out with a cookbook’
    June 25, 2018
    There is far more to working out the worth of a project than simply filling in a few headings on a spreadsheet. David Crawford surveys some recent thinking from the US and Canada. Cost benefit analysis (CBA) “can’t be carried out with a cookbook”, warns US analyst Professor Robert J Brent. “ You can’t just get out a spreadsheet and fill in the data for all the headings. Each transport CBA should have something that is distinctive, in terms of location (for example, for a rural area), types of user
    Read More
  • Carbon finance delivers critical support to mass transit schemes
    February 2, 2012
    David Crawford investigates carbon finance in transport. World Bank carbon finance grants are delivering critical support to major mass transit deployments in emerging and developing economies. Only recently operative in the transport sector, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM, see panel) is designed to generate additional income streams and improve internal rates of return on projects funded from public- and private-sector sources.
    Read More
  • New US fuel efficiency standards would cost over US$65 billion in lost revenue
    April 17, 2012
    Friday’s proposal by the Obama Administration to increase fuel efficiency standards for cars and light trucks to an average 54.5 miles per gallon (4.32 litres/100 km) between 2017 and 2025 would result in the loss of more than $65 billion in federal funding for state and local highway, bridge and transit improvements, an analysis by the American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA) shows.
    Read More

Highlighted Content