Bicycle commuting gets (mini) bailout of its own

ALBUQUERQUE — Tucked in among billions of U.S. taxpayer dollars to bail out Wall Street are a few crumbs for the people — not for the folks who took out risky mortgages or who thought someone else would pay off their credit card bills, but for that tiny slice of America that bicycles to work.

The Bicycle Commuter Act was among hundreds of earmarks federal lawmakers buried in the fine print of House Resolution 1424, aka the $700 billion bailout. It provides a way for employers to give bicycle commuters a whopping $20 a month as a tax-free fringe benefit. It’s not a lot of money, expected to cost the nation a mere $1 million a year, but it has the potential to be a big deal for bike commuters.

“It’s a good start,” said Craig Degenhardt, president of BikeABQ and avid bicycle commuter. “Now we just need to expand it.”

Sponsored by Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer, the Bicycle Commuter Act is a voluntary plan that an employer must agree to participate in. Any employer, large or small, public or private, can sign up, says the League of American Bicyclists. Smaller operations can offer the $20 as a pre-tax monthly bonus to qualifying employees; larger employers can opt for a a direct-payment method that would require employees to bring in receipts to be reimbursed.

The program is modeled after similar programs in place for years that benefit highway commuters — and which cost U.S. taxpayers $4.4 billion a year, the bicyclist league says. The $20 benefit for pedal-pushers is modest in comparison to that for mass-transit and carpool commuters, which give participating employees $115 or $210 a month, respectively.

According to the league, Blumenauer and members of the congressional bike caucus tried to set the bicycle benefit at $80 a month, but critics blocked it. The $20 per month figure was a compromise.

But the commuter act wasn’t official until it was inserted in the bailout bill — and that was just to get Blumenauer’s vote, who had been a holdout, Degenhardt said. “It was a bribe,” he said, though ultimately one that didn’t work. Blumenauer still voted against the bailout.

While Degenhardt said he appreciates the new fringe benefit, there’s lots of room for improvement. “This is great in that cyclists are getting their foot in the door,” he said. But at $20 a month, “It’s not going to get anyone to buy a bike to start commuting. It’s good for us already cycling to work — we’ll be able to buy a replacement light or fix a flat. But it’s not enough to induce anyone to take up commuting.”

Andrew Webb, who bike commutes daily to work at the University of New Mexico’s Bureau of Business and Economic Research, echoed Degenhardt’s assessment. “It strikes me as a bit of a token effort, but a token effort in the right direction,” he said. “I don’t personally need an incentive, but I like that it would possibly encourage other people in a workplace who don’t bicycle commute to consider it.”

More people might commute by bicycle if the streets were safer, Webb said. And while the $20 monthly perk may not seem like much, the Bicycle Commuter Act could end up having a long-term positive effect, he said. “If it gets more people riding, it could spur the city to improve the infrastructure, like adding bike lanes,” he said.

One avid bicyclist who also happens to be an editor for The New York Times, writing in the newspaper’s blog Green Inc., said the commuting law is long overdue. “It remains to be seen whether businesses will in fact begin showering their sweaty, two-wheeled workers with rewards and incentives,” wrote Andrea Kannapell. “But celebration is still in order.”