The Biden infrastructure package isn’t the only pending federal legislation that could have a big effect on the lives of New Yorkers. Majority Leader Schumer and Congress must enact another important initiative that could make a huge difference in how we commute: the Bicycle Commuter Act.
The act is a pre-tax incentive for people to bike to work that could encourage thousands of New Yorkers to ditch their cars for greener, safer transportation — leading to less traffic congestion on city streets, improved air quality, and more New Yorkers living a healthier lifestyle.
The act would extend to employees who bike to work the commuter benefits that are already offered to bus and subway riders and to drivers and to drivers in the form of prepaid cards, transit passes, commuter-check vouchers, and smart cards. It would provide as much as $81 a month for individuals to cover costs associated with commuting, and could be spent flexibly between modes. The bill would cover bikeshare rides and memberships (including for low-speed e-bikes) and would allow bike commuters to pair those subsidies with their other transit benefits, addressing the first-and-last miles of many commutes. It also would eliminate time-consuming receipt- and record-keeping requirements associated with the previous version of the benefit that required commuters to save receipts and report their expenses in order to get reimbursed.
Many studies have found that bike commuting is associated with a lower risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer. In New York City, before the pandemic, 1.6 million residents rode a bike at least occasionally, and 800,000 did so regularly. Those numbers grew by a whopping 26 percent from 2012 through 2017. The number of New Yorkers who develop cardiovascular disease and cancer could decline if the “#BikeBoom” that we have seen during the last year and a half continues — and we expect it will.
One only needs to look at Citi Bike ridership data…