CONNECTICUT COMMUTERS GET A "FARE" BREAK, BUSINESSES FIND TAX SAVINGS; TransitCenter Opens Connecticut Office During Try Transit Week.

STAMFORD, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 14, 1996--As if rush hour traffic on Connecticut roadways isn't reason enough to ride public transit, now there are substantial financial reasons to leave your car at home. At a press conference this morning, TransitCenter -- an alliance of transit providers dedicated to encouraging the use of public transit -- announced the opening of its new office in downtown Stamford, designated to educate businesses on the State's commuting options. This announcement comes appropriately during Try Transit Week, a national campaign to promote the use of public transit and ridesharing.

With the opening of the Stamford office, Connecticut businesses will now have easy access to TransitChekr, a federally- approved benefit program that allows businesses to provide employees with tax-free vouchers that may be used to purchase tokens, tickets or passes on the region's public transit systems, including Metro-North trains, Connecticut Transit and local transit district buses, shuttle services and vanpools sponsored through MetroPool and Easy Street.

TransitChek was designed to take advantage of the federal tax law's transportation benefit provision, which allows employers to provide each employee with a tax-free subsidy of up to $65/month, $780/year for use on public transit or vanpools. This amount is a tax-deductible business expense for employers and is exempt from payroll-related taxes and other costs. In addition, it is tax-free compensation to employees, unlike a conventional raise or bonus. More than 6,000 companies in the Tri-State area have enrolled in the program, including an additional 1,000 in 1995 alone.

"Businesses everywhere are having to find ways to trim costs while maintaining employee morale," said Harry Harris, deputy commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Transportation. "Having resources like TransitCenter to provide assistance in doing this is integral to the State's success, and reinforces our efforts and our commitment to making public transportation more convenient and cost-effective. We believe that offering programs like TransitChek will contribute substantially to reduced traffic congestion and air pollution, a better utilization of our investment in public transit, and a healthier region, both environmentally and economically."

"It has been our goal to make companies in the metropolitan area aware of the benefits of TransitChek and to aid them in using the program at the greatest savings for them and their employees," said Larry Filler, executive director of TransitCenter.

"Already, more than 6,000 companies have used TransitChek, and sales of TransitChek have resulted in more than two million new rides on area transit systems. We're enthusiastic about the opportunity to get Connecticut companies on board as well."

Introduced in 1987, TransitChek was the first employer- provided voucher in the country that employees could redeem for tokens, tickets or passes on virtually all public transit systems in the New York metropolitan area. In 1995, TransitChek sales reached more than $30 million, a 22 percent increase over the previous year. The steadily rising success of the program has led TransitCenter to open offices on Long Island, in Westchester County and, now, Connecticut.

TransitChek Benefits

Employers and employees alike have praised the TransitChek program for reducing commuting costs, getting people out of their cars and bolstering morale.

Businesses may use TransitChek vouchers in a variety of ways -- as a salary increase, productivity/performance award or bonus; as a recruitment tool; to reduce absenteeism; or as part of benefits packages or compensation plans. By offering TransitChek to employees, one company reported that it actually saved enough money to upgrade the computers for the office.

Champion International Corporation, based in Stamford, has been using TransitChek since 1991. "We are happy to participate in this opportunity for our employees to realize incentives to use mass transportation. These efforts help in controlling the growing use of our congested highways," said Mary Green, director of Media Relations for Champion.

Fairfield County Employers Team Up With the State

In addition to the benefits offered by the basic TransitChek program, Fairfield County businesses will have an opportunity to realize even greater savings through a state- sponsored commuter incentive program.

TransitChek is an important component of Fairfield County's newly-expanded Commute Incentive Program, a partnership between the state and employers in which the state pays one-third of the TransitChek cost, while employers pay two-thirds.

For instance, if a Fairfield County company wants to offer each of its employees $780 towards his/her commute, that company contributes only $520, with the state paying the remaining $260 of the voucher cost plus the 4 percent fee and $12 shipping charge. The company's contribution is payroll tax- exempt and fully tax deductible. Hence, the final cost for companies in a 30 percent tax bracket is only $364, as compared to $910. (assuming a 20 percent payroll factor) for a pay raise or bonus in the same take-home amount. The Commute Incentive Program is administered by MetroPool for the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

The new TransitCenter office is located at One Landmark Square in downtown Stamford. John Marchak, senior account manager, TransitCenter, is available between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. at [phone]. Or, for more information, call the TransitChek Hotline at 1-800-622-5000.

TransitCenter was founded in 1986 by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), NJ TRANSIT and the Port Authority Trans-Hudson Corporation (PATH) to reduce traffic congestion by encouraging the use of public transportation via cooperative programs with the business community. The TransitChek program is sponsored by the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

CONTACT: Jennifer Bruder, Earle Palmer Brown

203/622-1723, ext. 318