Joel Ingulsrud

Oregon Democratic Senator Ron Wyden introduced a Senate version of Rep. Blumenauer’s Bicycle Commuter Benefits Act of 2006 last month. It proposes at $40~$100 tax-free reimbursement for employees who bicycle to work, and considering that mass transit reimbursements of $105/month and parking reimbursements of $205/month already exist, this should be a no-brainer. Forbes has an article on the effort.

Since the primary barrier to passage of the bill is apathy from the majority car drivers and legislator concern for the federal budget, why not take away the parking and car mileage tax deductions? Considering the health and environmental benefits of bicycling, the government stands to save billions of dollars by disincenting car drivers and making bicycling the biggest commute-related tax benefit of them all.

The only downside I see is increased hot water consumption from all the additional showers and laundry cycles.