The latest issues of Transportation Solutions for Employers and Employees looks at transit benefits, employer-assisted housing programs, and location efficient mortgages as tools for employers with broad benefits.
Severe traffic congestion and
housing far-removed from their jobs make commuting a nightmare for many
Chicago-region residents. But, area business leaders like Hewitt Associates are
finding innovative escape routes, and recognizing that it pays to offer these
new benefits to employees.
Today, Business Leaders for Transportation released the
latest in its Transportation Solutions for Employers and Employees series, a
look at three programs — transit benefits, employer-assisted housing, and
location efficient mortgages
— that have proven
beneficial to employers, their workers, and the region as a whole.
Transit
benefits, for example, do not simply encourage
workers to leave their cars at home. By allowing employees to set-aside pre-tax
dollars to pay for transit, they save money.
“People can save a lot by reducing their
taxable income, and there is very little administration cost for our company,”
says Robert Kressin, vice president of human resources for Amalgamated Bank of
Chicago, a company with roughly 200 employees in downtown Chicago, 90 percent of
whom participate in the program.
In
the Chicago region, more than 1,800 employers participate in the RTA/CTA transit
check program, which
offers
benefits to organizations not directly on transit lines as well.
Hewitt Associates, an international
human resources outsourcing and consulting firm, offers the benefit even though
its Lincolnshire offices are not directly served by a transit route. Hewitt
helps fund the Lake-Cook Shuttle Bug service, which transports commuters from
Metra stations to a number of businesses along the Lake-Cook Road corridor.
Business
Executives like
employer-assisted housing
programs, because their
effectiveness at improving employee retention has already been shown to save on
hiring and training costs for new workers. Programs can provide any combination
of loans, forgivable grants, and employee counseling to participants looking for
homes within a specified distance from the workplace. They
can make the difference between buying and
renting for people who work in expensive housing markets.
“Cutting down significantly on my commute
time helps me to be more readily available if I am urgently needed,” says
Sheri
Rupert, a night chaplain at
Northwest Community Healthcare in Arlington
Heights, who bought a home through the
hospital’s
program.
“I am in a really
great location now, near shopping, the hospital, and my church.”
Location efficient mortgages
expand access to homeownership for people
looking in neighborhoods well served by public transit. A typical household
locating in a transit-friendly neighborhood in the Chicago area could save as
much as $400/month in reduced transportation costs. Based on that, a household
could qualify for an additional $60,000 in a mortgage through a participating
lender. More than 40 families have already bought homes in the Chicago region
using location efficient mortgages.
This is the third in the Transportation Solutions for
Employers and Employees series. Previous issues, available at
www.businessleadersfortransportation.org, looked at transportation management associations and the shuttle services provided by United Parcel Services
.
Business Leaders for Transportation, a
coalition of 180 members representing more than 12,000 regional employers,
provides a collective voice for Chicago-area businesses on surface
transportation issues. Of central importance to the coalition is increased state
and federal transportation funding for northeastern Illinois, supported by
coordinated planning to achieve the most efficient and desirable return on
transportation system investments.
For more information, visit www.businessleadersfortransportation.org,
or contact Natashia
Holmes
, transportation associate,
at 312-863-6022.
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