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

  • Need for simpler urban tolling solutions
    January 10, 2013
    A common assumption, even amongst informed observers, is that there’s but a handful of urban charging schemes in operation around the world and scant prospect of that changing any time soon. Larger city-sized schemes such as Singapore, London and Stockholm come readily to mind but if we take a wider view and also consider urban access control and Low Emission Zones (LEZs) then the picture changes rather radically. There is a notable concentration of such schemes in Europe but worldwide the number is comfort
    Read More
  • Congestion pricing - no such thing as a free ride
    October 2, 2018
    The widespread adoption of autonomous vehicles is likely to increase congestion, many experts believe. But Wes Guckert of Traffic Group believes that tolling could provide the answer. While it is still hard to wrap your head around the idea of getting into a vehicle without a driver, the industry is now used to hearing, reading, participating in the advancement of autonomous vehicles (AVs). Those in the industry have heard about Uber delivering a shipment of Budweiser, or the convoy of driverless trucks
    Read More
  • MaaS must be seamless and invisible - or forget it
    June 5, 2018
    MaaS experts from around the world converged on ITS International’s MaaS Market Atlanta conference to talk about how MaaS can be implemented in the US. Andrew Bardin Williams had a front row seat. Transportation experts from around the world gathered in the US earlier this month to discuss the future of Mobility as a Service (MaaS) and how it could be deployed in the US market. While most attendees at ITS International’s MaaS Market Atlanta conference were familiar with the MaaS concept, the US’s highly
    Read More
  • Emissions reductions targets to have major impact on transport
    October 28, 2015
    As bold moves aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions have been introduced in California, David Crawford looks at the ramifications for transportation. California Governor Jerry Brown’s recent dramatic raising of the bar on emissions reduction policy for the state has won him praise from Japan, Australia, Europe and the secretariat of the critical UN conference on climate change being held in Paris in November/December 2015. His April 2015 executive order aimed at bringing emissions to 40% below 1990 lev
    Read More

Highlighted Content