The Patrick-Murray Administration recognized 125 Commonwealth organizations who have excelled in engaging and encouraging their employees to travel by public transit, carpools, vanpools, or by bicycling or walking during the Second Massachusetts Excellence in Commuter Options (ECO) Awards ceremony at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.
(Read more…)

Source: Mass Commute, Massachusetts ECO Awards, MassDOT, April 1, 2013.

The fiscal cliff deal the Senate just signed into law included a provision to raise/restore the maximum federal transit benefit to $240 per month.  That change is effective immediately.

To quote David Alpert of the Greater Greater Washington, “Technically, the new level is also retroactive until the start of 2012, but unlike with tax credits you can claim on this April’s taxes for activities in 2012, there’s no way for riders to realistically take advantage of it for months gone by.”

The details of the arrangements follow for those who might be interested.  On January 1, 2013, the Enact enacted a bill from the House of Representatives (H.R. 8) entitled “An Act to extend certain tax relief provisions enacted in 2001 and 2003, and to provide for expedited consideration of a bill providing for comprehensive tax reform, and for other purposes. ” Section 203  resolved to extend the the parity for exclusion from income for employer-provided Mass Transit and Parking Benefits established by the Highway Investment, Job Creation, and Economic Growth Act of 2012.  This means that employees can order, receive and manage their Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority monthly public transportation passes for their personal use and can automatically take advantage of tax savings by having up to $240 of the pass price deducted on a pre-tax basis.

More specifically, H.R. 8, Title II and SEC. 203 made the underlined changes to the 2012 law quoted below:

HIGHWAY INVESTMENT, JOB CREATION, AND ECONOMIC GROWTH ACT OF 2012

 PRESENT LAW

    Qualified transportation fringe benefits provided by an
employer are excluded from an employee's gross income for
income tax purposes and from an employee's wages for payroll
tax purposes.\25\ Qualified transportation fringe benefits
include parking, transit passes, vanpool benefits, and
qualified bicycle commuting reimbursements. No amount is
includible in the income of an employee merely because the
employer offers the employee a choice between cash and
qualified transportation fringe benefits (other than a
qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement). Qualified
transportation fringe benefits also include a cash
reimbursement by an employer to an employee. In the case of
transit passes, however, a cash reimbursement is considered a
qualified transportation fringe benefit only if a voucher or
similar item which may be exchanged only for a transit pass is
not readily available for direct distribution by the employer
to the employee.
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    \25\Secs. 132(f), 3121(b)(2), and 3306(b)(16) and 3401(a)(19).
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    Prior to February 17, 2009, the amount that could be
excluded as qualified transportation fringe benefits was
limited to $100 per month in combined vanpooling and transit
pass benefits and $175 per month in qualified parking benefits.
All limits are adjusted annually for inflation, using 1998 as
the base year (for 2012 the limits are $125 and $240,
respectively). The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of
2009,\26\ however, provided parity in qualified transportation
fringe benefits by temporarily increasing the monthly exclusion
for employer-provided vanpool and transit pass benefits to the
same level as the exclusion for employer-provided parking,
effective for months beginning on or after the date of
enactment (February 17, 2009) and before January 1, 2011. The
Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job
Creation Act of 2010\27\ extended the parity in qualified
transportation fringe benefits through December 31, 2011.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
    \26\Pub. L. No. 111-5.
    \27\Pub. L. No. 111-312.
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    Effective January 1, 2014, the amount that could be
excluded as qualified transportation fringe benefits is limited
to $125 per month in combined vanpooling and transit pass
benefits and $240 per month in qualified parking benefits.

                           REASONS FOR CHANGE

    Maintaining parity in transportation benefits provides
American workers with an incentive to use public transportation
and vanpools for their commute rather than driving to work in
their personal vehicles. The Committee believes that this
provision will help to ease traffic congestion and reduce
America's dependence on foreign sources of oil.

                        EXPLANATION OF PROVISION

    The provision extends the parity in qualified
transportation fringe benefits for the entire 2012. In order
for the extension to be effective retroactive to January 1,
2012, the Committee intends that expenses incurred prior to
enactment by an employee for employer-provided vanpool and
transit benefits may be reimbursed by employers on a tax free
basis to the extent they exceed $125 per month and are less
than $240 per month, but only to the extent that such amount
has not already been excluded from such employee's taxable
compensation.

Sources: Thomas (http://thomas.loc.gov/home/gpoxmlc112/h8_eas.xml#toc-id8C3EC3C4747747E1A27121017B7B5F7A) and the Government Publication Office (http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CRPT-112srpt152/html/CRPT-112srpt152.htm).  See also, Greater Greater Washington, “Fiscal cliff deal restores transit benefit“, by David Alpert, January 2, 2013 9:14 am

Zipcar Inc. will become a unit of Avis Budget Group, Inc. based in Parsippany, N.J., and Zipcar chief executive Scott Griffith and president Mark Norman are expected to remain with the company. Zipcar will go ahead with its planned move from Cambridge to the Innovation District.

Avis will pay $12.25 per share for the company, a 49 percent premium to the company’s closing price on Friday. Shares jumped more than 6 percent in premarket trading Monday. If approved by shareholders, the deal is expected to close in the spring. (Read more…)

Source: boston.com, Business Updates: “Avis Buys Zipcar for $500 million“, by Katie Johnson, Globe Reporter, 01/02/2013 9:28 AM.

The station is used by more than 11,000 commuters on weekdays, and MBTA officials say they will provide buses to alleviate the inconvenience while the station is closed.

Walking Bostonian, a local blog, took notes at last week’s public meeting regarding the closure and its impact to commuters. A full summary of the notes may be found here but here are some items that will affect the University commuinity. They are:

The “total closure” alternative they claim saves 18 months and $20 million. They project an additional 9-10 minutes of travel time for all passengers who were using the station and are now diverted.

• The Blue Line Bowdoin station will be open full-time on a trial basis: they will monitor usage and decide if it is worthwhile
• The Green Line “B” and “D” service will terminate and loop at Park Street station, except during the off-peak when service on the “D” branch will be sent further to turn back at North Station.
• As a result of the shorter trip-time, a single train in service on the “B” branch will be shifted to bolster the “C” branch instead.
• There will be a shuttle bus that loops between Haymarket, Bowdoin and State

Further information regarding this project may be found here on the MBTA’ s website.

Dutch company Hopper has introduced an eco-friendly taxi service to the streets of Amsterdam that uses electric scooters rather than cars.

We’ve previously seen green taxi services, including cab4one, which uses mini cars that only transport one passenger to keep carbon emissions down. Now, however, Dutch company Hopper has introduced an eco-friendly taxi service to the streets of Amsterdam that uses electric scooters rather than cars.

Providing a cheap and environmentally-friendly form of transportation, Hopper scooters are intended to be quicker than a taxi car service, as they can weave in and out of stationary traffic to decrease waiting times. Every ride has a flat rate of EUR 2.50 regardless of the distance, although the service only runs in the city centre and Zuidas WTC/RAI areas of Amsterdam.

The company claims that electric scooters produce 68 percent less carbon emissions than a traditional moped scooter. The scooters can be flagged down in the street, booked over the telephone or via the website and are operational from 8am till 8pm Monday–Friday.

The service is currently only running in Amsterdam, but the founders have plans to extend it to The Hague, Rotterdam and Utrecht within the next six months – transportation entrepreneurs, one to bring to your city?

Source: www.springwise.com, December 5, 2012

“There’s been a lot of positive feedback — many are excited about the app and it’s more convenient for them,” said acting General Manager Jonathan Davis. (Read more…)

Source: Boston.com – By Sarah N. Mattero Globe Correspondent, Nov 14, 2012 06:14 PM

Beginning today [November 12, 2012], customers on four MBTA Commuter Rail Lines, north and west of Boston, will be able to use their smartphones instead of paper tickets to ride the train. Under this first-in the nation mobile ticketing program, customers will be able to purchase tickets and passes using the MBTA mTicket app for iPhone and Android devices wherever they are. The tickets are displayed on the phone’s screen as a digital ‘flash pass’ or encrypted barcode. The system uses the JustRide mobile ticketing platform from Masabi US Ltd. (Read more…)

Source: MBTA.Com – News & Events

The 2013 Motor Trend Car of the Year is one of the quickest American four-doors ever built. It drives like a sports car, eager and agile and instantly responsive. But it’s also as smoothly effortless as a Rolls-Royce, can carry almost as much stuff as a Chevy Equinox, and is more efficient than a Toyota Prius. Oh, and it’ll sashay up to the valet at a luxury hotel like a supermodel working a Paris catwalk. By any measure, the Tesla Model S is a truly remarkable automobile, perhaps the most accomplished all-new luxury car since the original Lexus LS 400. That’s why it’s our 2013 Car of the Year.  (Read more…)

Source: By Angus MacKenzie | Photos By Andrew Yeadon, Motor Trend Staff | January, 2013

The rock band Aerosmith is scheduled to play for approximately 30-45 minutes starting at 12:00 pm on Monday, November 5, 2012 outside 1325 Commonwealth Avenue in Allston.

The City of Boston will be  The MBTA Green Line B-branch train service will be suspended between Packard’s Corner and Washington Street from 10:30 am to 3:00 pm. Those desiring MBTA service in Brighton are encouraged to utilize the C-Branch or the Route 57 bus service to Kenmore. In addition, limited bus shuttle service will be available to Brighton customers between the Washington Street stop on the B-Branch and the Washington Square stop on the C-Branch. 

Boston Police will not allow overnight camping or line cueing. Due to these closures, traffic on Commonwealth and the adjacent streets in the west campus area may be significantly impacted. The Boston Police will be providing officers to help with directing traffic around the street closures.

Please make your plans accordingly and thank you for your anticipated cooperation.

For the latest information, please go to http://www.bu.edu/today