Transit programs

Train. Bus. Subway. Ferry. Paratransit. Parking your car at the commuter station. If you travel to work by public transportation, you can take part in the Commuter Benefits Program for UFT members, which now goes beyond New York City to cover the tristate area.

This city benefit enables members to pay for allowable commuting costs with pretax dollars, which can mean a savings of from 20 to 40 percent on monthly commuting costs, depending on the cost of your transit travel and your individual tax situation. (You can use the online calculator to figure out what your savings will be at http://getwageworks.com/nyc/savings.)

The program, administered by WageWorks, covers virtually any transit system in the tristate area. Here’s a partial list of what’s included:

• New York City Transit, Long Island Rail Road, Metro-North Railroad, New Jersey Transit, PATH and NY Waterway.
• Paratransit and the MTA’s Access-A-Ride program.
• Parking at or near public transit to commute to work, with the Park-n-Ride program.

How to sign up

If you want to enroll in the Commuter Benefits Program, you can sign up online at the Department of Education’s payroll portal, https://payrollportal.nycboe.net. You can also obtain an enrollment form from the DOE website at http://schools.nyc.gov. The paper enrollment form should be mailed to: Administrative/Support Payrolls, Attn: Payroll Benefits Unit, 65 Court St., Room 1003, Brooklyn, NY 11201. Or you can fax the form to 1-718-935-3702.

Commuter Card options

For UFT members who would like to take advantage of the Commuter Benefits Program there are several options.

• Commuter Card Plan — The Commuter Card is a stored-value card loaded with your pretax and posttax payroll deductions that can be used to purchase transit passes and tickets at transit providers throughout the New York tristate area. The Commuter Card works at many more transit providers than were supported under the previous program — visit the WageWorks website to see a full listing of transit providers.

  This stored-value card works just like a credit card at transit provider ticket vending machines, ticket windows and online stores. Your card is funded with your deductions each pay date.

  The Commuter Card plan offers two options:

  1. Commuter Card - No Admin Fee — Under this option, you will have a set deduction amount equivalent to the cost of the New York City Transit 30-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard, $104 pretax, per month. You will receive a Commuter Card that can be used to purchase any transit fare media option including MetroCards and specifically the 30-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard. The fare media you can purchase under this option is limited only by the balance on your card. The city will pay the administrative fee for this plan.
  2. Commuter Card — Unrestricted — Under this option, you select a payroll deduction amount to be loaded to your card that meets your monthly transit costs. You are not limited to the cost of a 30-Day Unlimited Ride MetroCard, but you will have to pay an administrative fee of $1.77 per month.

• Park-n-Ride Plan — This plan allows you to use your pretax and post-tax payroll deductions to pay for parking at or near a public transportation stop or station that you use to get to work. Only transit-related parking is eligible. You must be jointly enrolled in one of WageWorks’ other transit plans in order to enroll in this option. You will incur an administrative fee of $3.05 per month for Park-n-Ride.

• Access-A-Ride/Paratransit Plan — This plan allows you to participate in Access-A-Ride if you receive paratransit service from MTA New York City. The administrative fee for this plan is covered by the city. For more information, visit the New York City government website.

Contact info

If you have any questions, contact WageWorks at www.wageworks.com or call 1-877-WageWorks from Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.