MassBike: The new bicycle commuter benefit
By Anonymous - 2/23/09 - 11:47 am
We’ve received many questions about the new benefit for bicycle commuters that Congress included in the financial industry "bailout" bill. The bottom line is that bicycle commuters nationwide are now eligible to receive up to $20 per month for commuting expenses, either as a cash reimbursement or a pre-tax deduction, and their employers can obtain a tax benefit for participating in the program. The League of American Bicyclists has provided guidance on exactly what this means for you and your employer.
More HERE including; current guidance on the bike commuter benefit, actual text of the new law, the bill's author's - Congressman Blumenauer - explanation of the bill
Comments
hard to bike commute in Boston
It's very hard to bike commute here. There are a lot of hills, and the weather is optimal only two months of the year, otherwise it's very cold or hot enough to make you too sweaty for work.
Hundreds of your fellow
Hundreds of your fellow Bostonians commute by bicycle each day. Give it a try.
oh, please.
Hills in Boston are minimal (and I live atop one of the largest). The weather is fine for commuting perhaps 8 months of the year, and tolerable almost year-round if you're willing to prepare for it. Boston drivers are the only major downside.
If you are looking for perfect comfort and unmussed hair, perhaps bike commuting is not for you. But Boston is not a particularly bad place to do so based on weather and geography. (Based on traffic and the lack of city accomodations, of course, Boston is notoriously near the bottom of the list of American biking cities.)
This bill discriminates
This bill discriminates against those unable to ride a bicycle due to physical disabilities.
It's an outrage!!!
can I help it if I'm a sweaty person
I just read a book about colonial America, and how the English colonists were amazed at the weather here, because it was so much hotter in the summer and so much colder in the winter than in their maritime climate. So it's not just me, our forefathers didn't like biking to work either.
sure, I guess
I get super sweaty too. One infrastructure solution which Boston has avoided thus far is to push employers to install showers (SF has made this a requirement for new and retrofitted buildings). I just bring an extra shirt on hot days and change in the bathroom.
I have heard a lot of folks say they don't want to ride because of sweat or helmet hair, but to me that shows some lack of genuine interest -- these are very solvable problems.
The SF Bike Coalition used to have a sticker that said
heck, I'd say that BO is even better than CO2.
For me the obstacle is safety.
For me the obstacle is safety and not so much the terrain, the weather or having a facility to freshen up before I sit down at my desk.
The city and state have not paid much attention or devoted substantial resources to address issues that concern bicycle commuters primarily safety and right of way. The attitude is that roads are for motor vehicles and everyone else should get the fuckout of the way.
Boston is of the size and scale that could accommodate a substantial bicycling community if only planning and resource allocation for the infrastructure were a priority.
Instead, we're still figuring out to pay for roads and tunnels built for cars to the tune of $13 Billion. Sure, traffic moves through the city now, and underground, and we have a green way in the financial district but very little has been allocated to developing an infrastructure for everyday cycling as transportation.
What if we allocated .5 % of our annual auto roads and public transportation budget for bicycling infrastructure? I would ride instead of driving. Driving kinda sucks in Boston except when everyone is asleep.
Greenway = classic bad example
The greenway is new construction, has more lanes than it really needs given typical traffic volumes, has absolutely no bike amenities, and bans bikes from the central sidewalk area.
The fact that nobody gave cycling lanes along this corridor any thought speaks volumes about the backwardness of those in charge of planning and lack of thought put into the project. Anybody with any sense would have taken bike lanes as a given for that stretch, as it connects several key areas of the city. Bike lanes would separate pedestrian and cycling and road traffic in an appropriate way.
Ridiculous.
happy talk
Exactly. The city, state and federal governments commitment to cycling infrastructure is happy talk.
Boston by bike The city is
Bike path: Cohasset, Hull, Hingham, Norwell, and Scituate
Its easy to do it in those towns
because there is so much land.
It would be cool to see them do it along commuter rail lines, or even on/along green lines.
bike lanes bad
I agree with you about the drivers. But the bike lanes continue a practice of segregation. You know, how if you cross a street outside a crosswalk, the drivers feel ok about running you down.
I think there are certain places where the cars the walkers and the bikists should just all be jumbled together, and get rid of a lot of traffic lights, to give the drivers the feeling that they are driving on a sidewalk and need to slow way down, however they won't miss the green light if they do.
as conditions permit
Segregated cycle facilities
Bike Paths
Charles River
Southwest Corridor Pierre Lallement Bike Path (3.5 miles)
Massachusetts Bicycle Transportation Plan
Here lies
On my tombstone it will read: "TRIED TO RIDE A BICYCLE IN BOSTON".