Co-Workers and Employers Band Together to Exploit Government Largess

I happened across this fascinating Patty Henetz article this morning's Salt Lake Tribune:

Co-workers band together to lease vans from state rideshare program

Waiting list: Though disputes sometimes arise over driving styles, the program is in high demand

By Patty Henetz
The Salt Lake Tribune

Jim Peterson, who works at the VA Hospital, heads to the parking lot to
a UTA van that he drives for 11 of his co-workers. The van pool takes the
workers to and from their homes in Davis and Weber counties. (Ryan Galbraith/The
Salt Lake Tribune)

Every time Lisa Porter makes her 70-mile round trip between her home in Tooele and her job in Salt Lake City, she helps the Utah Transit Authority reduce congestion on the state's freeways, saves money on gas and insurance, reduces wear and tear on her car and cuts back on emissions hazardous to the environment. As a bonus, she gets to decompress with nine other women who also work at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center, so that by the time she faces her family, she's relaxed.

"It kind of gives you a cool-down time if you've had a bad day," Porter said while on her way home this past week.

Porter is one of more than 3,000 Utah workers who have joined forces in UTA's custom rideshare van-leasing project that has become so successful the agency is scrambling to secure more vans and reduce a one-year wait list.

UTA doesn't advertise the service, said Scott Miklos, the van pool rideshare supervisor. Rather, agency marketing specialists visit companies to explain how the transit option can save money for employees and employers while also saving millions of driving miles.

Madelyn Roundy, a human resources worker for Autoliv, a global auto safety device manufacturer, got on board. She convinced her employer the van scheme was a good idea after it closed its Ogden plant nearly two years ago and transferred 13 production lines to Brigham City, a 50-mile round trip from Ogden. Employees didn't want to move, but dreaded the long trip to work.

She told her bosses all they had to do was allow the employees to take pre-tax payroll deductions to pay for the van pools. Because the Internal Revenue Service allows companies to deduct up to $105 per worker per month tax-free, the company would pay less in payroll taxes. In turn, the employees had less taxable income and saved transportation dollars.

Now she manages 11 van pools, with two more due to start up this week.

"I have not even promoted this. But the more gas prices go up, the more people are interested in getting on a van," Roundy said.

In 1997, UTA leased out 27 vans. Last year the agency leased 246 vans and saved 35 million vehicle miles, Miklos said. Since 2002, the program has saved nearly 89 million miles. The cost to participants is about 4 cents per mile. Each van pool
includes at least two members who are designated drivers.

"We have probably close to 80 groups waiting for the 27 new vans I will have this year," he said, adding he is trying to persuade UTA to purchase 30 more from its own funds to satisfy demand.

Miklos figures that Autoliv van pool riders already saved 680,000 vehicle miles during the first six months of this year and at least $5,000 in payroll taxes per year. The eight Veterans Administration vans saved 484,000 miles for the 6-month period.

You can read the rest of the article here.

At first glance, this UTA program seems like a good idea -- a real "feel-good" story. If UTA statistics can be taken at face value, it's a win-win for employers and commuters alike. Look at all the gasoline and highway miles we're saving, says the UTA. And it's good for the environment, too!

But what about the taxpayers? A program like this, founded upon federal tax incentives, and requiring UTA management and funding, puts most of the financial burden of this program squarely upon the tax-paying general public. And unlike traditional public-transit systems, which serve a general ridership, this program is designed to favor only particular riders and industries, and not the general public.

The "secrecy" aspect of this program is bothersome, to say the least. UTA doesn't advertise this program. If this program has been in operation since 1997, why hasn't the UTA publicized it? And what criteria are used by the UTA to determine which group gets a van, and which doesn't? And of course there's the overall question: does it make sense for the federal and state government to subsidize companies like Autoliv, who move their operations from our communities to outlying locations, thereby displacing a locally-situated work-force, and requiring this ride-share solution? And how much -- exactly -- does this van-pool program cost the taxpayers, anyway? Surely the UTA isn't making money on this, like a private vehicle-leasing company would do.

Perhaps our Ogden City councilman Kent Jorgensen could provide a little information on this. According to his Ogden City website profile, he works by day as a UTA "ride-share specialist." What about it Kent? Are you listening? Can you help us out on this?

I'd certainly like to get more information. Maybe Rick Safsten can shed some light on this story. He's and Autoliv manager after all, according to his Ogden City web profile. Perhaps he can enlighten us on whether this van-leasing program operates merely to assist displaced local workers -- or whether it was intended to help "grease the rails" for Autoliv, when it decided to slide its operation out of town.

And what about our gentle Weber County Forum readers? Surely there's someone within our rapidly-expanding readership who can fill in some of the blanks here.

Comments?