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Washington, D.C. — The president of the National Treasury Employees Union (NTEU) today applauded Senate approval of language in the surface transportation bill that would reinstate parity between the parking and mass transit portions of the employee transportation benefit.

“Improving transit benefits will prove incredibly important to all working people that use or would like to use public transportation and are seeking critical relief for commuting costs,” NTEU President Colleen M. Kelley said.

Parity between the two elements of the transportation benefit ended on Dec. 31 when Congress failed to extend the mass transit portion, which had previously been increased to $230 per month. The transit benefit reverted to a maximum of $125 per month, while the parking benefit increased at the start of this year to $240 per month due to cost of living adjustments.

The parity language had a vocal supporter in Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), who led the support of its inclusion in the surface transportation bill (S. 1813) and has also introduced the Commuter Benefits Act of 2011 (S. 1034) to make parity permanent.

"Now the hundreds of thousands of commuters that use the transit benefit can know that we are closer than ever to extending this critical tax break, and I urge the House to seal the deal on this crucial legislation and pass it now in order to reduce transportation costs for hard-working New Yorkers and commuters across the country," said Sen. Schumer.

Since Congress failed to extend the transit benefit at the end of 2011, NTEU has been highlighting the value of parity between transit and parking benefits with President Kelley submitting testimony to the Senate Finance Committee and writing letters to every member of the Senate.

“With parity between parking and mass transit, the employer will encourage greater use of mass transit, which helps decrease road congestion, reduce pollution and conserve gas,” Kelley said. “With gas prices going higher and higher, this makes more sense than ever.”

NTEU represents about 150,000 employees in 31 agencies and departments.