Travis County Commissioners Court
December 29, 2009,
Item #24
ms. perryington are you here
on 24?
okay.
24. receive briefing by the
clean air force and others
on a possible pilot program
to implement a county
employee shuttle and its
qualification for pre-tax
deduction under the county's
flexible spending account.
good morning.
>> good morning, judge,
cindy perryington, hrmd,.
>> I don't know white,
t.n.r.
>> good morning, i'm barbara
gonzalez with fringe
benefits management company.
>> [indiscernible]
[inaudible - no mic]
>> judge, this is kind of a
two-part item.
when we went out for bid on
flexible spending, we
included in our fsa bid a
qualified transportation
benefit.
when we started the flex as
of 10-1, we did not
implement the qtb, which is
called qualified
transportation benefit
because of the results of
the survey that hi done at
that time -- that I had done
at that time, there didn't
seem to be a huge amount of
interest, because we were
looking at parking mostly at
that point in the downtown
campus.
however, since then the city
has changed what they're
doing with some of the
parking, that sort of thing,
so it's kind of revised.
we have had a request from
the parking committee and
some of the other county
departments to look at this
again.
so what we thought that we
would do today is bring in
our representative, this is
barbara gonzalez, with fbmc,
she's the chief operational
officer with them, to go
through what a qualified
transportation benefit is,
the one that they can offer.
it's already been bid out
and we have it in our
contract now so we could
implement it without having
to go through all of those
steps.
what we're looking for today
is direction on whether the
court wants us to proceed
with this and to maybe look
at getting some more
information on this and then
there will be another part
to this presentation about
the van pool part.
so i'm going to let barbara
go through the powerpoint
presentation she just passed
out.
>> yes.
>> can I just for the
record.
>> yes.
>> we are posted to receive
a briefing.
>> uh-huh.
>> so I think the court may
legally give directions
about next steps, but we
kind of have to be careful
about what action we take.
>> certainly, we're just
looking for direction.
>> okay.
>> good morning, judge,
commissioners.
what I would like to do is
just walk you, at a very
high level, through the
engagement of what a
qualified transportation
benefit is comprised of and
how you could maximize your
tax advantages for the
county and also for your
employees and how you can
integrate this with a van
pool or shuttle type of
service for the county
employees.
first of all, it is a
program that's sanctioned
under the i.r.s. code, i
didn't want to bore you with
all of those different code
sections, but it's found in
the i.r.s. code under
section 132, it covers at a
very high level, van pools,
transit, qualified parking
expenses.
what we had proposed to the
county is a program that
would cover all three, but
that is certainly something
that is a planned design
model and you can determine
which of those components
you would like to include in
your program.
you can have all three or
you may choose that you want
to only have a transit
program and not necessarily
the parking benefits.
so that's really a choice of
the county.
there are some limits to how
much an employee can set
aside out of their payroll
contributions.
that is on a pretax basis.
and that amount is $230
monthly for transit and
transit, when I speak of
transit, that also includes
van pooling, think of those
in the same way, transit,
van pools, shuttles, the
employee can set aside $230
monthly on a retax basis.
now, the importance of that,
the advantage of that, is
that the county would save
the matching tax liabilities
and the employee would have
those taken out on a pretax
basis to pay for their
transit benefits.
we -- our platform is --
it's very interactive with
the employee.
the employee would actually
go online each month to
order their passes for
transit, it may be the
capital metro, it may be
other transit providers in
the community or it may be a
shuttle or van pool service
that's provided by the
county or a private entity
that has set up a van pool
type of service.
but the employee would go
online monthly and order
their passes.
they would -- they could set
it up to occur on a
recurring basis.
so that they don't
necessarily have to go out
there each month and do the
ordering.
we have recommended to the
county so that there would
be an avoidance of any risk
or prefunding of the
program, we have actually
recommended to the county
that we use something called
an orders derived payroll.
what that simply means is
that the employee would make
their order online, the
contribution would came out
of their paycheck on a
pretax basis.
the vouchers, commuter
checks and parking would be
paid for in advance, so
there's no up front money
that has to be actually
funded by the county.
it would be on a pay as you
go basis and it would be
paid in advance of the
orders being fulfilled and
mailed out to the employees.
we call that a two-month
advance order process.
let's see ... the system is
dynamic, so if an employee
has an arrangement with a
parking facility or they are
using a shuttle service
that's not necessarily one
that's shown on the -- on
the initial platform, we can
add those as you go.
so the employee would simply
make a request to add a
qualified parking contractor
or a shuttle service and we
would add those in.
initially, when we are
setting a program up, we go
in and we look at the
greater metropolitan area.
and we go ahead and we set
up all of the transit
providers, which are --
which are typically used by
the -- by the employees and
citizens in the community.
so for the greater
metropolitan area, we would
go ahead and set up all of
those transit and those
known parking vendors, so
that they are there when the
employee gets ready to make
their first order.
>> barbara, in Austin the --
the mass transit would be
capital metro and the light
rail, if -- once the light
rail gets running.
so those would be the two
mass transit providers and
then they, of course, would
approach the parking people.
>> I know that there's some
interest in the van pool
specifically.
so I wanted to tell you some
of the specifics, again,
without going into a lot of
the i.r.s. rhetoric or code.
the van pool, again, is
covered as part of the
transit benefits and in
order to qualify, it's -- it
must be what is considered a
commuter highway vehicle.
it must seat six or more
adults.
and that's in addition to
the driver, so there are
some very specific
requirements for van pool or
shuttle services to be
qualified under the program.
>> that's a total of seven?
>> yes, sir.
>> it's anticipated that the
driver will not be a county
employee?
>> that's fine.
it -- that would be setting
it up as a private -- as a
private company that would
be offering the shuttle
service and that is -- that
would meet the definition as
long as the vehicle is
considered a commuter
highway vehicle and it seats
six or more passengers,
adult passengers.
those are just --
>> [indiscernible]
[inaudible - no mic] if it
was a county employee
[indiscernible]
>> it would not be excluded.
it just -- there must be
capacity for six or more
adult passengers.
>> they are going to go more
into the details of the van
pool with the next folks
that come up.
>> okay.
>> and at a high level,
that's really what the
program is all about.
we would communicate it to
the employees.
they would make their orders
online.
we would fulfill -- we would
take those amounts out of
their paycheck on a pretax
basis.
we would fulfill the orders.
that's pretty simple program
in terms of the
administration of it.
of course, there are many
advantages to the county
because you've got the
tax -- the tax implications,
the matching taxes that are
reduced for the county and
then there are some very
obvious other benefits to
the environment, because
you're -- you're reducing
the use of private vehicles
and you are hopefully
cutting down on carbon
emissions and such.
and there are some studies
that we can help you all
with, if you are interested
in doing some surveys in
advance of implementing the
programs, we can actually
work with you and help you
with some of those studies.
>> they have a survey that
will actually be able to
quantify the carbon emission
savings.
if we were to implement
this.
she was showing them to me
this morning there. is a
charge for these, so we may
do some more discussions on
this with the other members
of our little group here to
see if this is something
that we might want to bring
to court to see if you would
be interested in that.
but they do have studies
available.
>> [indiscernible]
>> certainly.
>> she has got a sample one
with her today she's working
on for someone else that we
will be glad to share.
>> mccracken: does this
exist anywhere, cindy, this
particular program, who else
or what other governmental
entity is doing similar
arrangements as far as --
>> there is much interest
nationwide right now in
commuter benefit programs.
>> uh-huh,.
>> sir.
we actually administer
qualified transportation
benefits for the city and
county of san francisco.
>> right.
>> san francisco?
san francisco was one?
>> city and county of san
francisco.
>> all right.
>> we also administer
commuter benefit programs
for several states for --
for illinois, for wisconsin
and ohio.
we are beginning to see a
great deal of interest in --
in the county and
municipality sectors because
there are some advantages in
some public entities there
are advantages to cutting
down on emissions and being
able to show that and
receive certain federal fund
being and such so I --
>> I guess the question then
is the track record.
has there been an
established track record
of --
>> certainly.
>> -- of a program that has
actually reduced emissions
by -- of course we know if
we take vehicles off the
road we know that's less
emissions as far as them
operating.
so I guess my question is in
the san francisco qualified
transportation benefit
approach, is there evidence
to show that there has been
significant reduction in the
emissions?
>> I can follow up, sir,
with those findings.
the san francisco area is
very unique in that they are
starting to put in certain
requirements for employers
and it's almost becoming --
they have taken it to the
next step and in some cases
it's not voluntary, it's
almost becoming mandatory
and they are offering some
incentives to smaller
businesses in the city and
county of san francisco area
to offer the commuter
benefit programs.
but I can certainly
follow-up with the
commission and provide our
findings.
>> right.
i understand the approach as
far as you are going.
but, you know, we were right
on the verge of -- of, you
know, for the -- for
non-attainment and
attainment as far as our
emissions here in Travis
county.
and of course I guess my --
my question, also, was
geared to those particular
cities and counties that are
in non--- you know, that are
in non-attainment.
of course might be a little
more rigid.
i know that we are pretty
close if we haven't
exceeded.
so is this basically geared
to the fact of looking at
the cities and trying to --
cities and counties, trying
to make sure that we also
look at the possibility of
going into non-attainment?
>> i'm not familiar with
your non-attainment
requirements.
but we can certainly do a
combined study of the city
and the county and provide
those results to you in
terms of the commuter
patterns and if we were to
use transit for a certain
portion of the population,
what that would mean to you
in the reduction of carbon
emissions and the reduction
in the use of fuels.
we can certainly provide
that modeling for you.
>> commissioner Davis, if i
don't -- if you don't mind,
i would like to interrupt,
we have what would be
considered the expert in our
area on non-attainment, jim
marston from environmental
defense.
>> I would appreciate that,
it looks like a hand and
foot situation here.
we're doing two things, yes,
we have a good program, it
appears that we do.
then on the other handled,
it appears that it would be
serving dual functions,
taking cars and vehicles off
the road that reduce
emissions but also will
address our non-attainment
struggles that we are having
to make sure that we stay in
attainment.
i'm just trying to see the
hand and foot situation, so
i'm just --
>> [inaudible - no mic]
here to talk about a
proposed transit shuttle
system.
we have representatives of a
number of groups that have
come together in a sort of
swat team forum, we have
robin rather representing
collective strength, justin
meryl, with a.m.d. is my
understanding.
>> my company is called
culture technologies and i
support a.m.d.
>> then mr. marston here
introduced by robin rather,
i'm going to turn it over to
them to let them talk about
this.
>> to answer your question,
i think that is one of the
core issues here is that
we're solving a number of
different problems with this
proposal and just
specifically to speak to
non-attainment, since we
came so close almost went
over the line last season,
next season starts in april,
so maybe jim if you wouldn't
mind speaking to that,
first.
>> yes, commissioner, you
asked a very good question,
i'm jim marston, the
director of the state
environmental defense fund,
i'm here today in my
capacity as the chair of the
clean air force of central
texas.
i'm the successor to judge
Biscoe in that position.
>> immediate past chair.
[laughter]
>> that's right.
>> all across the country,
much of the air pollution
problems and a big part of
the global warming emissions
come from transportation,
particularly from employee
commutes.
and frankly 20 or 30 years
of efforts on reducing what
we call vehicle miles
traveled, those efforts have
been largely a big failure.
governments have failed at
that and particularly
environmental communities
failed at that.
but there's one set of
efforts that have worked.
and that is basically to pay
people not to drive.
you pay them indirectly.
and a program that has
worked very well have been
these programs where we take
advantage of the federal tax
system, and reward folks to
find alternative
transportation.
and that's -- that's what
your -- your staff has
recommend -- is recommending
or the program that they
have here.
we -- we at the
environmental defense fund
and clean air force think
that it's a really great
program because it really is
one of the few opportunities
to reduce pollution at least
from transportation that
does not cost local
government or local
employees any money.
it's all subsidized by the
tax system.
it rewards people for doing
something other than driving
in their own vehicle.
actually, when done
properly, it saves local
governments money because
you don't have to pay the
fica tax on the part that is
put in the flex spending.
so these are programs that
do work.
i will say that they work in
different ways, some people
want to take regular
transit, frankly in places
in the southwest, like in
texas, a lot of people will
not do regular transit
programs.
there's a lot of
psychological reasons why.
but one of the things that
we have learned are these --
we call them van pools, but
actually the correct name is
shuttle express because
these will not be vans that
will be driven by employees,
they will actually be a
private entity offering
the -- the service.
but psychologically and from
a -- from a time point of
view, these van pools seem
to work better in cities
like Austin and in other
places in the southwest.
it's that they take less
time than the traditional
transit to get people to and
from work.
these are programs that are
actually -- we borrowed from
california and elsewhere,
but google has had
particular success with this
and I -- i'm sure you all
are aware that google has
all sorts of interesting
employee benefits,
everything from -- from they
pick up your dry cleaning to
daycare to a whole host of
other things, but the
benefit that the employees
like best is this van pool
because they -- they avoid a
lot of the traffic problems
in san francisco, which we
share with them.
they help on productivity.
these vans are not like lots
of other vans in the sense
that they are -- they are
transit, you actually can
drink your coffee and eat on
the vans and you can
actually plug in and start
working with your computer.
so there's a lot of
benefits, I think that i'm
stealing a little bit of
what robin wanted to talk
about.
but these are programs that
do work.
if we want to have a smart
effort on dealing with air
pollution, this is one of
the best things that we
could do.
>> thank you.
>> well, I -- the reason why
i posed that question i
guess is the fact that we
really struggled and here in
Travis county to make sure
that we do not get into the
non-attainment costly status
that is really -- will
really be very harmful to
us.
again, I guess -- I know you
probably got other things to
say, but I really -- you did
mention your van service,
which is maybe readily made
available on the -- owe a
private situation and all of
the other amenities that go
with that.
i guess my concern, though,
is -- let me give you an
example.
by example, I always try to
do things by example.
let's say that we have some
folks that live in manor but
they work in Travis county.
now, if they were to -- the
employees of Travis county,
listening to this today,
they say, well, we want
to -- well, we have got
several persons that live in
manor, but we work in Travis
county.
let us get our heads
together and see what
services are available that
go to work, let's say the
rest of the court private
van shuttle service, for an
example.
now, are you suggesting
that -- that the -- six or
more, six people and more,
or seven with the driver, as
the judge stated, are you
suggesting that -- that
these -- that the
particulars of the private
shuttle service, van
service, would be pervased
through all of Travis
county, using manor as an
example, would that service
be available for those areas
such as a manor?
>> let me go ahead,
commissioner Davis.
in the beginning, what we
want to do is set up a short
pilot.
>> all right.
>> that would have two or
three corridors.
>> all right.
>> perhaps one out to manor
because there is a lot of
demands in that direction we
have already learned.
>> all right.
>> in the beginning we would
set up two or three
corridors to in effect prove
the concept.
ultimately we do see this,
where it's been set up in
other parts of the country,
that's exactly what happens.
you find where your clusters
of employees are.
what's great about this kind
of a program is you can
really customize it to your
employee base.
where you have employees
that want to use this kind
of service, we can set up
the routes.
so it's extremely
customizable.
one of the things that we
have learned is if it's not
very convenient and
accessible, people just
won't do it.
so the point is that you
need to get very close to
where they live and bring
them right here to where
they work.
and back.
and that's the point of this
type of program.
so -- so the answer to your
question is yes, in the
early stages, we may just
have to pilot up a little
bit.
but ultimately we would want
to be able to do that.
>> can I -- can I ask sydney
to come to the table just
for a moment just to clarify
that.
because I believe the
parking committee did do
some study as to where our
employees are clustered for
the -- for our downtown
campus.
sorry, my voice is really --
>> good morning, sydney
crosby, chair of the parking
committee.
we do have some data that
suggests where employees are
and I don't know if it's
part of your backup.
there was a map that might
be hard to read in the
backup.
>> yes.
>> so there were a couple of
corridors that were obvious
for us and robin had offered
to help us identify those
corridors for the pilot
program if that was approved
by the court later.
but generally speaking, the
east is one of those
sectors, exactly where in
the east would be determined
by facilities for parking
and that kind of thing.
then also the northern part
of the county or people
coming from williamson and
other areas from that
northern corridor using
i-35.
so those people would not be
affected by the light rail
when that comes up, but
they -- but they have a
feeling that since they are
already close to the highway
that it doesn't make sense
for them to then jump on
another transit because they
are already in their cars
and halfway downtown.
so something like a van pool
would help to be more
convenient for them and to
offer them another solution
that would be practical.
>> is it safe to say that --
map is essentially showing
that we have got an hour
glass of employees clustered
around i-35 with, you know,
the fat part of the hour
glass in southern williamson
and the fat part of the hour
glass on the other side is
around south Austin below,
you know, stassney and
coming in from 71 east?
>> correct, yes.
most of our employees are at
the outer edges of the
county.
>> right.
but clustered around i-35.
it's not west.
it's east.
>> uh-huh.
>> right.
>> I want to say a couple of
things.
first of all, I wanted to
thank -- your staff has been
incredibly sharp at
providing the kind of data
that we need to really
customize this intelligently
so that it really works for
your employees.
they have worked really
quickly and effectively to
help us analyze the data
that exists.
secondly I wanted to say one
of the things that we find
compelling about this
program.
it not only helps employees
with the convenience and
accessibility, but in other
regions of the country where
they use this extensively,
it's a real money saver for
the employees.
an employee making
approximately $40,000 in
salary, if they use this
program, it's convenient for
them, they can save the net
back to their own wallets is
in the $1,000 range or
month.
most people in our region
spend more than $3,000 a
year on commuting.
if they come into downtown.
that's a lot of money.
when you are talking about a
program like this that
increases their convenience
factor, increases their
productivity factor, and
returns money back to their
wallet, I think that it's --
it's one of the most
powerful things that we can
consider doing.
texas is behind.
jim mentioned the whole
southwest is behind.
the east coast folks have
been all over this type of
program.
it has been effective --
commissioner Davis you
asked.
this is not a new concept.
this tax program that the
federal government set up,
it's been in place for many
years, more than 10 years.
what's different right now
it used to be just a little
bit of money, the limit used
to be $50 or $90.
they have increased the
limit up to $230 per month.
with gas prices the way they
have been and are expected
to be in the future, this
has become more and more of
a solution for a lot of
drivers.
so what we're trying to do,
in effect, in some ways is
catch up with other parts of
the country that are much
further along in
understanding how to use it
and setting it up.
and this -- I would say this
is as proven of a concept as
you can possibly have and
it's almost risk-free in
that if it doesn't work, you
haven't laid out a lot of
money.
most times we come up here
and talk about
transportation solutions,
we're talking about, you
know, gabillions of dollars.
in new jersey, for example,
they promote this.
the state of new jersey
promotes this very heavily
and the way they market it
is literally as free
commuting.
because when employees use
the incentives the way they
are set up right now, it in
effect takes out the cost on
the bottom line for their
commute in and out of work.
so let me -- if it's all
right with you all, I just
have a very few slides.
we are under orders to keep
the powerpoint to most
minimum we can during this
holiday session.
let me tick through this and
then we will get back to
questions.
i wanted to return
to the question of
vmt.
this project started
when jim said we
have to do something
about vmt in Austin.
Austin is not
competitive with
other cities in the
country when it
comes to vmt.
we have number 41 in
the country out of
the top 50 metro
areas in terms of
our vmt.
vmt is important
because 66% of our
emissions, toxic
emissions come from
on road vehicles,
they come from cars.
vmt is the way that
we measure that.
we're not doing
really well.
what jim asked our
firm to do was to
look around the
country and say what
are the best
practices, what are
other people doing
that have set out to
reduce their vmt?
the program that
we're talking about
today is considered
the very best
practice in the
country.
it is proven,
commissioner Davis,
that we will work to
bring you examples
from cities like
portland, numerous
california cities,
numerous east coast
cities, wisconsin,
colorado, there are
many many places
that have not only
reduced their vmt,
they have been so
excited about the
results some places
have made the use or
at least the
offering of these
types of benefits
mandatory.
we are not
recommending that.
i think we all
believe it's better
when you give people
options, give people
choices and let them
work it out.
in many parts of the
country this has
proven itself to be
very, very
effective.
i don't just see --
i think most people
just see vmt as an
environmental issue.
the most important
facing our country
and region is the
economy, jobs,
people's ability to
make it.
vmt is a very big
green issue, it's a
big climate issue.
but it also has a
huge economic impact
because every dollar
that people spend at
the gas pump almost
by definition, not
only leaves our
local economy, it
leaves the texas
economy, most of the
time it even leaves
our national
economy.
the study we are
citing from ceo's
for cities shows you
if can reduce your
vmt but one mile per
person annually, if
you drop it just a
little bit, it
returns a large
amount of money back
to the local
economy.
that's critical when
we're thinking about
ways to reduce vmt.
later on we can talk
more, jim can talk
more about
non-attainment
issues, but there is
a really clear
economic aspect of
this as well.
some people say,
well, yeah, yeah,
yeah, we need to
reduce vmt but, you
know, we live in
texas and people
aren't going to get
out of their cars.
i think that might
have been true back
in the old days.
>> wait, sheryl just
returned for a
moment.
>> yes.
[laughter]
>> he always used to
say that.
>> we live in texas,
i just want to point
out, we live in
texas, texans are as
acutely aware of
their own pocketbook
issues, as anybody,
maybe more so.
i have a lot of
cousins that live
down in smithville
and bastrop and out
in the country area.
at our family
gatherings, usually
the males in my
family tease me
about my green
environmentalism.
the last three
holidays that we've
had, what the
conversation
centered around is
what kind of smaller
cars, all of my
cousins used to
drive huge ford
450's and the
bigger, more sort of
classic tax pickup
looking the better.
all of those guys
are trying to figure
out which of the
smaller cars are the
most manly.
[laughter]
and I say that with
some humor, but the
fact is the way that
gas prices are,
the way the wallet
issues are around
transportation,
transportation can
eat up around a
third of folks' take
home pay.
and that's a serious
issue and what we're
talking about is
trying to provide
some help with that.
this is a survey
that we did on
behalf of this
project earlier this
year, the five
counties in central
texas.
i just want to show
you that 89% of the
folks in this region
think driving is
going to get more
and more expensive
in the future.
69% say they would
like to drive a
little less.
we're not asking
people to give up
their cars, but if
they cannot drive
every single time
they need to go
somewhere especially
to work, that's a
big deal.
i drive because i
have to, not because
i want to.
that speaks to the
convenience and
accessibility of the
other solutions that
we have.
68%.
this just kills me,
but it's true.
i would like to take
public
transportation, but
it's not available
or convenient for
me.
65%.
and then I just
can't afford to
drive as much as i
used to, that's 42%.
so I think we've
passed the point
where people are
totally devoted to
their cars and not
willing to get out.
i think we just need
to make it a lot
easier for them to
try other ways of --
of doing things and
to at least have
options for their
own commute.
what we're talking
about, I will try to
speed up here, i
know this item was
supposed to be a
short one, i
apologize.
we're talking about
shuttle express.
it specifically is
tailored for major
employers in this
area.
it's specifically
designed to be in
effect a
productivity mobile.
the vehicles are
equipped with wi-fi,
most of the time
when companies,
major, major
companies like
google, yahoo, e
bay, many, many,
many of the leading leading
technology companies
have implemented
them because they
see them as adding
an hour or more of
very productive time
to the day.
as jim said this is
the number one
ranked employee
benefit at google
and they have some
fabulous ones.
one of the things
that we would like
to do that would be
innovative would be
to integrate a
shuttle program like
this that gets
people to and from
their workplace with
car share and other
taxi services,
really integrate
those so when people
get to work, if they
have an appointment
or they are going to
lunch, they have a
way to do that.
it's also very
common, almost every
system in the
country that's set
up like, there you
have an emergency
service where if
someone's child is
sick or they get
sick and they need
to get home, you
have a way for them
to do that.
i think we can work
out ways to make
that happen.
we would like to do
the pilot this
coming quarter.
the pilot that we
envision is a
public/private
partnership that would
hopefully not there yet,
but would hopefully
involve Travis county,
city of Austin, downtown
Austin alliance, some of
its downtown members and
also private companies
like a.m.d. and
potentially
i.b.m.
if other parts of the
country, individual
companies or organizations
set up their own shuttle
service.
we don't think that's
efficient.
we think it would be better
if we could have a
multi-organization,
multi-major employer
approach because the
corridors are likely going
to be very much the same.
this would be considered
innovative in the country,
but I think here in Austin
we can customize this and
make it work.
i think that we have already
talked about -- this would
be I think a viable and very
important option to offer
your employees.
even without the federal
benefits that the previous
presenters talked about.
with those tax benefits,
that make this almost
revenue neutral, if not put
people ahead, I think that
it's incredibly compelling.
i'm going to skip over some
of these.
i just want to point it out
again before -- the federal
benefit here.
two of them are important.
$230 per month per commuter
for the alternative
transportation, if you have
as we talked about before,
at least seven people in the
vehicle.
there's another 230, I don't
know if this is true, but i
heard there's a seven year
wait for parking spaces for
some of your employees.
i thought that might have
been a typo.
[laughter]
that's a separate benefit
that the feds offer, the
i.r.s. offers, that's
another -- $230 a month if
you implement the federal
aspect of that.
that is real serious money
that you might be foolish to
leave on the table like
that.
very few people in texas,
have you few people in this
region are taking advantage
of these i.r.s. benefits, i
think we can change that.
i'm going to let justin, as
i said before, justin has
been part of our swat team.
his company works on
sustainability issues for
major private companies and
other clients.
he is the commuter choice
manager for a.m.d. and has a
lot of experience in this --
in that role he does local
a.m.d. operations and their
national operations as well.
so justin do you want to
take a little bit about this
from the employee standpoint
real quick.
>> good morning, justin,
what's your last name.
>> meril, with culture
technologies director.
i've had the privilege of
supporting several
organizations on the ground
implementation of this
program.
i can firsthand tell you
that there are a lot of
benefits on both sides for
the employer, which is
obviously critical to make
it available, but also here
speaking from an employee
standpoint and the
perception for them of -- of
on the appeal and after the
usage on the gratitude of
having this option.
i thought a powerful quote
to show you the trending of
this benefit was captured
here in this transit center
finding.
in the last year alone the
number of employers offering
commuter benefits and major
metro area jumped by 57%
from the previous years.
it's also the most popular
planned additional benefit
for employee packages.
so it's -- not only has it
increased but it's projected
to continue doing that.
the reason for that is, you
know, with all things being
equal, employees with their
commute being such a big
part of their day, they
naturally gravitate to where
there's going to be the
least resistance for them on
a daily basis.
not only that, it can be a
value added thing.
not only reduce the pain but
actually provide an
incentive in giving them the
chance to wrap up their work
on the way home or get a
jump start on the day or
even take a nap if they are
exhausted from working.
so that side of it is a real
benefit, on the choirs's
side there's hard and soft
benefits.
the hard benefits include
tax savings that we talked
about, reduced parking costs
is another hard benefit.
but there's also a lot of
soft benefits that are just
as real, but less
quantifiable.
things like retention and
recruiting of employees,
productivity.
those are very real benefits
and less tangible, I would
say, in terms of employees,
this consistently comes up
as a high motivator for --
for employees to
participate.
you know, we asked what
would it take for you to
leave your car and take one
of these other forms of
public transit.
it's often, like jim was
saying, you really have to
pay them, this is the one
benefit that you can give
them cash in their pockets,
but it doesn't have to come
out of the pocket of the
company, which is priceless.
and -- the -- the element
here about integrating with
the other -- with the other
programs, this is a -- this
is a -- you can view this
program as sort of a
linchpin but it does need to
have other elements, on to.
motivator you have a barrier
there, if something comes
up, I want to go home, get
to my kids.
this option of a taxi or a
car share, these are
programs that will sort of
parallel, come together to
create a comprehensive easy
solution for these
employees.
>> how have you educated
your employees as to the
availability of the program?
>> you can, there's a couple
of different methods.
having a marketing campaign
that goes through
intercompany channels like a
monthly newsletter, a mass
e-mail, those type of
methods, but also having
very visible events like a
commuter fair is a great way
to do it, set up outside of
a cafeteria where you have a
lot of foot traffic coming,
people see this, fliers and
check points where people
scan their badges.
you want to make it as
visible as possible.
people that are tired, that
have longer commutes, tired
of their commutes, they see
it and they gravitate
towards it, they want to
find out more information.
having it available is the
next piece, but making sure
that they are aware of it is
critical as well.
>>> judge, I would like to
make one point.
the $230, there would have
to be a decision made that
the government lets you do
it two different ways.
the choir can fund that $230
or the employee can have
that deducted pretax from
their payroll.
i think that we were all
thinking of the 230 being
deducted pretax from the
employees payroll and the
county not funding that up
front, but there is a choice
there that would have to be
determined at some point.
i just wanted to make that
clear.
because this would not be
them cost neutral to the
employees.
that would still be money
that was coming out of their
paycheck but it would be
pretax so they would have
the tax savings on it.
but it wouldn't really be
cost neutral.
the county wouldn't
necessarily have to be
funding anything up front.
so there would have to be a
determination made there,
how the county wanted to
proceed on this.
but that's something that we
would bring back to you,
depending on your direction
to us.
>> has the auditor had an
opportunity to look at this
and determine whether the
pretax --
>> our people were not
included in the meetings on
this.
i think charles said he met
twice with cindy.
we still need to look more
on it.
you can implement, though,
work-wise we can implement
it.
it's just a matter of
finding the details and
doing that.
>> let me ask two or three
questions if I might.
so who would own the van?
>> right this minute, we
are -- the swat team is only
thinking as far out as the
pilot.
right now we consider this
a -- a kind of a group
effort.
it's being done at cost.
ultimately, typically,
around the country, it's a
private company that
actually operates the
vehicles.
we have been talking to a
number of firms.
the firm that has offered to
do this pilot, to prove the
concept out and test the
concept is one that capital
metro works with on the bus
side and we don't have a
long-term.
if that didn't work out.
we have talked to almost
every major firm in the
country, especially the ones
that support firms like
google and microsoft.
we have tried to work and
talk with the very best of
the best.
>> is there a minimum number of
vans that would indicate to
us whether it's a good
strategy or not.
>> I don't know, jim we're
hoping -- from a pilot
standpoint we would consider
the pilot successful if we
can get across the major
employers that we're talking
with, the pilot would be
successful if we get 2 to
400 people to use this
during the pilot, I think we
would consider it extremely
successful.
to be honest with you, sir,
i don't think the problem is
going to be on the demand
side.
i think there's -- in fact
we have studied the demand
of this 18 ways to sunday, i
think that we will find if
we can set the routes up
intelligently, if we can set
the systems up so that they
are easy and they really
work for people, I think the
demand will be there.
then it can grow sort of
more organically.
>> I think the nice thing
about this is the success of
this will be determined by
the private companies in
part.
do we -- do we demonstrate
that it can work in Travis
county with both government
and private employers such
they think with their own
experience, their own
commuters, their own
experience to make routes
that they can make money
within the limits that the
employee is really after the
tax advantages are taken out
or added in, that the
employee is not out any more
money than they are now,
actually saves money.
so I don't think we have to
make that decision now.
i think the -- the private
companies will look at the
data and make a decision
whether it worked or not.
but we think a few hundred
people doing this, telling
everybody else how it works,
will be enough to tip it
over the top.
>> a few hundred at Travis
county or a few hundred at
Travis county and the city
of Austin.
>> we are hoping,
anticipating that there
would be, you know, Travis
county, if they would work
for you all, the city of
Austin is actively
contemplating it.
companies like a.m.d. and
i.b.m.
there are a number of other
major employers that are, to
be honest with you, our
strategy is if we can just
get between two and four of
the major players to start
it, to jump start it, we
think the other major
employers will follow suit
fairly quickly.
>> the role then of the air
force would be to advertise
more broadly to the
community.
the kind of role that you
played as chair of that will
be done again, talking about
the commuting program.
>> but the pilot goal for
ms. perrington and
ms. crosby would be 200
employees.
>> we would consider that a
complete home run, I would
be happy with 50 or 75 or
so.
we have a little more
analysis to do with proper
direction from the court.
i think if we can analyze
properly where your
employees are and start the
process of asking people if
they are interested in it.
this is in fact sort of like
a subscription service.
we won't do it if your folks
aren't interested in it.
we need to start the process
of talking to them and
finding out not just whether
or not they are interested
but what it takes to make
them really work for them.
>> you are really looking at
Travis county comprising
about a quarter of your
pilot user group.
>> right.
>> I think to answer your
question directly, 50 to 100
people from Travis county
employees would be really
great.
>> okay.
>> at the other public
workplaces that you
mentioned, city and states,
the vans are owned by
private sector?
>> yes.
in many of the other
examples, for example,
google, this sort of shocked
me, sir, when I -- I didn't
realize this before we
undertook this project.
google in effect runs its
own actual little mini
corporate transit company.
they have a commuter system,
you can imagine google doing
this, they actually have a
whole system, a whole
department, a department of
transportation services
inside google that sets this
up and runs it every day.
>> but the vans are owned
and driven by employees of
private companies.
>> right.
>> although some companies
google is considering, some
other companies own the
vehicles and hire the
drivers and the whole
enchilada, I think our
philosophy right now is that
it should be a private
company that does this
across the board for major
employers instead of each
major employer setting up
their own mini operation.
>> judge, one other thing
that I would need to make
clear is that we would not
be prepared to implement
this in conjunction with
fbmc until june, so that may
not make the -- the kickoff
point that the clean air is
trying to make.
i think that you are wanting
to start in april?
>> we would like to start
sooner than that.
>> because we have to get
this set up.
there's a two-month lead
time.
there's testing to be done,
that sort of a thing.
june -- april at the very
soonest, but june would be a
more realistic time and
that's if the court gave us
direction, you know, the
first week in january.
so we just wants to make
clear that we're not ready
to implement this until
june.
>> but from the county
perspective, the sooner we
can identify interested
employees the better.
>> yes.
if we can have your
permission to start the
marketing side of this and
the employee education start
setting it up, working that
side of it and maybe, you
know, I guess this might be
creative pushing it a little
bit, maybe even having
practice runs during the
pilot, dem no runs, I think
that would be very helpful.
>> I think a large component
of this is employee
education, communication, so
that the employees know what
the benefit is, how it
works, that sort of a thing.
that is all built into this
lead time.
we could certainly cooperate
with something like that.
>> well, ms. gonzalez does
the fbnc have 10 or 12 vans
available --
>> no, sir, we are not in
the shuttle service.
but we -- can certainly
handle the program, the
voucher of the employee --
>> couple more questions
then I will be done.
how would we go about
documenting to meet the
federal requirement that in
fact we had seven pleas per
van.
>> typically, what happens
with the qualified
transportation program, is
no one is going to be coming
and looking to see if you
have a shuttle with seven,
but those are the i.r.s.
requirements.
there --
>> somebody at the county
has to certify that in fact
the federal requirement has
been met.
>> there's nothing that i'm
aware of other than maybe
through a transportation
department, but certainly
nothing through the i.r.s.
i mean, basically they state
the requirement that there's
an expectation that the
vehicle be a commuter
highway vehicle and that it
seat six or more adult
passengers.
>> that doesn't matter
whether it's two county
employees, five city
employees --
>> that does not matter.
>> it doesn't matter --
>> the capacity of the van.
>> it's just the capacity of
the van.
correct.
>> judge, if you need some
documentation, the
transportation company
itself would be happy to
document, certify,
[indiscernible], whatever
would make you feel
comfortable.
>> every time the county is
entitled to some sort of
federal tax benefit, they
expect us to certify it.
so I don't -- I guess if we
have -- I guess that you
would have seven employees
assigned to a certain
vehicle or a certain van,
right?
or would it be seven
different employee owes owe.
>> the key thing is that the
van be that large.
and people have the ability
to use that van.
if they do, then they can
use the voucher.
you will not be certifying
the number of people using a
particular vehicle at all.
>> correct.
>> the certification -- in
fact I don't think it's a
certification.
it's just a representation
that the vehicles being used
have six places for
commuters, plus the driver,
or larger.
>> it's just that you can
only use your
[indiscernible] card to pay
for transit on that kind of
van.
>> that's right.
yes, where it's not used
for --
>> you can't use it for a
taxi.
>> it must be used for a
commute to or from the
workplace.
>> that's right.
>> you can't use it for a
taxi.
>> not for taxiing, not
for --
>> scooters, no good.
>> the family car can't be
used.
>> right.
so you could use it on the
bus or on the shuttle van
service or on the train,
it's just that card can only
be used for something that
has seven or more
passengers, right?
>> or for parking, to get
you to a place to get on
that shuttle, because
there's the separate parking
benefit as we've talked
about.
so --
>> I think we need to see in
writing a more detailed
description of the parking
project.
we've kind of talked about
the vanpooling, I was on
board going down the road on
it.
then the parking kind of
popped up.
parking and van pool
vehicles are separate.
>> they are a separate
benefit under the i.r.s.
code.
i think that you have an
excellent -- I was really
impressed with your parking
committee, they already have
quite a loft analytics under
their belt.
i think they would be able
to come back at the next
time we're scheduled and
talk through what that would
look like and how that might
benefit you all as a
separate item if --
>> we are proud of our
parking committee, too.
they say we never listen to
them, but we know they do a
fine job coming forth with
excellent recommendations.
they are all under
consideration.
>> we appreciate that.
>> I would like to basically
applaud you for your
efforts.
it's really some critical --
we're really at -- at the
crossroads.
i don't think anyone one of
us would like to see Travis
county go into a
non-attainment status.
and saying that, I would
like to -- to also see in
concerto because we're
looking at something that
we're not maybe able to
immediately do according to
staff, talking about june
and things like that, but,
you know, I know that you
are going to come back with
us with additional
information out of town, an
example out of town uses of
this particular service,
which you are -- which you
presented to us today.
but saying that, i'm really
concerned about the
aggressiveness, especially
with the clean air force,
the aggressiveness of what i
think we need to do -- an
example, like I said I go by
example, a lot of smoking
vehicles still on the road.
daily you see emissions
coming from vehicles, smoke
stack.
i mean that's not
acceptable, but then again
what are we aggressively
doing to get those vehicles
off the road?
i mean, it's a lot of 'em.
so it's just a lot of bits
and pieces that we have to
put together to make this
work.
this is a piece of the
puzzle to make sure that
Travis county remains in
attainment status.
i want to make sure everyone
out there listening to this
understand that we at a
crossroads, a lot of things
we still need to do to make
sure Travis county doesn't
get into non-attainment
status.
>> commissioner, if I may, i
think it's important to
interject here what you are
hearing today is probably
just the beginning of a
whole series of strategies
that would probably be
brought forward over time.
this is not a one-shot
silver bullet kind of thing.
>> right.
>> there is going to be
probably a whole
comprehensive sweep of
strategies.
with respect to
non-attainment, you know, we
have done very well up to
now.
i think it's almost
inevitable that the e.p.a.
will announce stricter
standards by the beginning
of next month.
so non-attainment may be --
that horse may be out of the
barn in terms of that.
but ... regardless, these
are things that make
economic sense, they make
environmental sense and they
are probably all things that
we should be undertaking.
>> right.
>> so the shuttle would be
one element of a strategy.
you asked earlier about
other communities and how
big of a difference it
makes.
you can see it on the
freeways in other
metropolitan areas where
they have implemented an
integrated strategy of
different methods to reduce
vehicle miles, to use
intelligent transportation
systems, high occupancy
vehicle lanes, trip
reduction programs, all of
those sorts of things.
i know from my own
experience that you would
get on the freeway on monday
or friday and where I was
before and you would see a
perceptible difference in
the level of traffic.
so the systems when they are
all brought together really
work.
i think this is a good first
step for us.
>> okay.
thank you.
>> thank you.
>> commissioner huber?
>> cindy, I had a question
for you.
i'm just kind of curious
what the constraints are
that keep us from
implementing a pilot program
before june?
is there anything that we
can do to help eliminate
some of those, whatever they
may be?
>> what the constraints are?
on the qtb?
>> on being able to
implement a program before
june.
you said june was the -- we
couldn't implement such a
program until then.
>> I will turn this that to
barbara.
will you explain the time
line?
>> in order to oh avoid any
sort of prefunding for the
vouchers and commuter
checks, we recommend a
two-month advance ordering
so if -- if you looked at
your most constricted time
line, you would want to
communicate to employees in
january, and work out the
issues with -- with
electronic data interchange,
which is always one of your
more onerous things to work
through.
in february, employees could
order for their april
commuter vouchers or
commuter checks.
now, that doesn't prevent
the start-up of your shuttle
service.
but that would be the --
the -- probably the earliest
time frame that you would
want to consider in terms of
the employee program.
the payroll deduction
program.
so you would communicate in
january.
you would have ordering by
the employees end of
february time frame and
vouchers mailed out in the
early march time frame for
an april benefit month.
now, you can shrink that.
but as you shrink it, you
could have a situation where
employees have made orders,
received those orders and
terminated before they have
actually paid for those
orders.
i don't think you want to
have that kind of risk to
the county, but certainly
you can shrink that time
line down.
>> commissioner huber, just
a quick follow-up.
because we're talking about
just a pilot and not rolling
this out on a really
wide-spread basis, i'm
wondering if we might work
together to see where we can
pick up some -- some time
frame and move the needle
just as quickly, maybe set a
new world record for how
quickly we can at least
identify people that would
be interested in the pilot.
>> yes.
i would defer to cindy,
because obviously there are
payroll processes and human
resource processes, but
certainly fbnc would be
cooperative and work with
you to have the most
constricted time line
possible.
>> that's good, I would like
to see that happen.
>> one of the things that i
would like to reiterate,
fbnc is recommended that the
people actually start
signing up for this in march
so that they could receive
their first check for the
june benefit.
that is also the time line
that we are supporting.
we haven't started working
on any of the recoding that
needs done for the report.
because they deal with the
third party to provide these
benefits, we haven't even
started that process nor has
fbnc of testing that
communication with the third
party and receiving the
information back.
when we talked to susan
kline, their computer
person, she strongly
recommend they do a full two
month testing, which would
be january and february for
a start in march.
so as ms. gonzalez just said
we can shorten that, but no
one at fbnc has recommended
shortening that nor is that
what they are proposing in
the presentation today.
so yes but neither payroll
nor fbmc, I have seen
documented they really are
looking at this as a june 1
benefit date.
>> maybe before the next
session we can sort of study
that up.
the next non-attainment
season, the pressure on our
side is non-attainment
starts in april, so our
goal, which I think we can
easily sync up with y'all's
process goals, is simply to
have wheels on the ground,
if you will, by april.
that may or may not be
possible, I think we can
work together to see how far
we can set things up in a
proper sequence, how about
that?
>> we can certainly work on
that.
>> that would be good.
>> do we have the names of
at least two contact persons
in the areas that have used
the car pool strategy,
preferably a city and a
state.
>> absolutely.
i have a long laundry list
actually of other counties
around the country that have
done this.
we can get the contact for
you if that's helpful.
>> this one may be the best,
if ms. perryington has that.
i think that would be a good
idea.
we are looking at probably
two weeks.
i'm not hopeful that a whole
lot will get done between
now and next tuesday because
of new year's holiday.
but two weeks from today,
ms. porter, is the 12th?
>> yes.
>> okay.
how does that sound?
>> sounds fabulous.
>> one other thing.
we had a deadline of
enrolling in flexible
spending, during --
during -- during our --
>> judge Biscoe, that does
not impact on a qualified
transportation benefits
program.
>> okay.
>> an employee can enroll in
that as often as a monthly
basis.
and also there's no use it
or lose it like you have
with flexible spending
account programs.
the benefits continue to
roll and the employee can
use those as long as they
remain in an active
employment status with the
county.
so --
>> but the money in the
current flexible
[indiscernible]
>> that is correct.
>> okay.
>> and that's one of the
issues that we have to
resolve.
right now you stay on the
program for the entire year
unless you terminate or have
a change in status.
in this case, people can
literally go on and off,
change one month, stop,
every month, full
flexibility in the amount,
the number of -- the number
of months that they wish to
participate.
so we haven't quite worked
through how we're going to
do that aspect of it,
either, because we're not
used to -- we don't have any
other vendor program that
has that level of
flexibility in it.
certainly not the health or
anything else that we do.
[one moment please for
change in captioners]
>> [inaudible - no mic].
>> okay.
>> can we throw in the
parking committee as well
since the parking
benefits --
>> the group that met the
other day will be involved.
on the -- on the fc and c
side, I will take the lead
on the qtb.
the other folks will take
the lead on the vanpool and
the -- you know, setting up
the parking and that kind of
thing.
as far as the actual
benefit, I would be the lead
on that and john would work
with the others so we can
have a cohesive effort.
>> is there any one the
auditor wants to designate
to be the point person?
okay.
you got the black bead.
>> anything else on this
item today?
thank you for the exciting
opportunity at the end of
2009.
>> happy new year.
>> thank y'all.
>> ms. porter, based on my
review of my agenda, that
brings us to executive
session.
we'll have this item back on
in two weeks, right?
>> uh-huh.
The Closed Caption log for this Commissioners Court agenda item is provided by Travis County Internet Services. Since this file is derived from the Closed Captions created during live cablecasts, there are occasional spelling and grammatical errors. This Closed Caption log is not an official record the Commissioners Court Meeting and cannot be relied on for official purposes. For official records please contact the County Clerk at (512) 854-4722.
Last Modified:
Tuesday, December 29, 2009 12:30 PM
