Colleagues,
We want to share a few tips with you about how you could potentially save money on your commute using pre-tax and post-tax dollars.
Wage Works uses pre-tax dollars to pay for your transit cost, including bus, train, BART, and vanpool. Place an order for a set monthly amount, up to $265, to come out of your paycheck, and the money is deducted and applied to your choice of a transit smart card such as a Clipper card or AC Transit pass.
One concern that we’ve heard is getting stuck at work if an emergency happens at home during the day. The Guaranteed Ride Home program is a solution. If you use transit, walk, bike or use any other non-solo driving options to get to work, you are guaranteed a ride home if there is an emergency. You can use rideshare options such as Uber or Lyft, taxi or rental car. There are separate programs for those who work in Alameda County and in Contra Costa County, so read about the program that covers your work location geography. Pre-registration is required for the Contra County program and strongly encouraged for Alameda County.
There are other incentives that help save money on alternative commute options. 511.org offers subsidies of up to $200 per month for vanpools to get to work. The site also has short-term incentives for non-solo drivers with chances to win free rides via Scoop, and Fandango and Starbucks cards.
As part of the Lab’s efforts to encourage non-solo driving, car and vanpools have preferential parking at the Lab. If you start a car or vanpool, reach out to John Chernowski, interim Transportation Manager, to learn more, and stay tuned for more transportation and commute option updates from commute@lbl.gov in the future.
Ellen Ford John Chernowski
Deputy Chief Operating Officer Interim Transportation Manager
