Don't penalize those who choose transit

As chairman of the Regional Transportation Authority, I write to thank Marni Pyke for her insightful column regarding the important topic of transit tax parity ("do tax breaks encourage driving over transit?").

Her article highlighted that about one-third of American workers get tax credits for parking and only 2 percent receive tax benefits for taking public transit - a disparity that adds 820,000 cars to already crowded expressways.

Per your article, my hat is off to Congressmen Randy Hultgren, Dan Lipinski and Bill Foster - all of whom clearly understand the inequity of the current situation. Prior to 2014, an employee could use up to $245 a month of pretaxed salary for transit commuting. Similarly, an employee could use the same amount in pretaxed salary for his or her parking costs if commuting to work by car.

However, beginning on Jan. 1, 2014, the pretax commuter benefit for public transit riders was cut nearly in half, reducing the transit benefit maximum to $130 per month. Incredibly, at the same time, the parking maximum benefit was raised to $250 per month, in effect encouraging more people to drive.

Congressman Hultgren said it best when he stated that reducing the transit benefit "impacts families." For instance, the RTA conservatively estimates that 21,000 riders in Congressman Peter Roskam's congressional district would benefit from transit benefits. It is nonsensical to encourage greater congestion on our highways at the expense of public transit riders.

I urge Congress to raise the maximum benefit for mass-transit commuters to at least the same level as those who commute by car in 2015. No one should be penalized for using public transportation.

Kirk W. Dillard

Chairman

Regional Transportation Authority