You make your own judgement

Here is an email dialog -- I put it in chronological order so you can read down the page. While the Commute Trip Reduction policy seems like a useful tool, the implementation leaves something to be desired in my judgement:

From: "Dain"
Date: Mon, 25 Aug 2008 13:44:44 -0700
To: "Peterson, Nils"
Subject: here's an odd one...

Hi Nils,

I just noticed a policy in the BPPM (http://www.wsu.edu/~forms/HTML/BPPM/80_Services/80.86_Commute_Trip_Reduction.htm) that states:

“Prepaid, subsidized transit for employees and students. Under this program element, all employees and students are allowed to use local transit systems by simply showing their CougarCard. This element is considered a de minimus nontaxable benefit under IRS, Section a32(f)(2)(A).” (emphasis added)

From: Peterson, Nils
Sent: Monday, August 25, 2008 14:50
To: Shaheen, John Anthony
Subject: BPPM 80.86 Commute trip reduction

John,
This policy is an interesting one. The rider points at one question — is Wheatland one of the “local transit systems?” If not, what distinguishes a local transit system for purposes of this policy, given the stated aims of the policy?

And, how are bus riding employees represented on the University Parking and Transportation Task Force (UPTTF) which serves as the WSU Pullman CTR Committee?

Thanks

On 9/2/08 10:48 AM, "Shaheen, John Anthony" wrote:

Nils,

Good question. We did not have Wheatland Express in mind when we refer to local. The distinction is the purpose of that service and the joint partnership with UI which prevents any commitments we could make in a WSU policy. Thanks for bringing this to our attention. We should clarify this in our BPPM.

John


John A. Shaheen, CAPP
Director of WSU Parking, Transportation & Visitor Center
Washington State University
Email: shaheen@wsu.edu
Phone: 509.335.4911
FAX: 509.335.1316

WSU is a proud member of the following organizations:
Northwest Parking Association
http://www.nwparking.org/
International Parking Institute
http://www.parking.org/
Collegiate Information and Visitor Services Association: http://civsa.org/