Incentives For Commuting?

I know it's not an employer incentive but it would be really cool if the government offered a tax credit to people for buying bikes for the purpose of commuting. At the very least, let people deduct the cost of a bike and bike maintenance from their taxes. I think this would be a great green energy program that is fairly easy to implement.

There's not a lot of employer incentives in my area. The only thing remotely like an incentive is my city has a "Bike To Work" week where some businesses give you discounts or free stuff if you're riding around on a bike, but that doesn't really amount to much. Free bikes for commuting is a cool idea for bigger companies for sure.

Any government or city council worth its salt should support such initiatives.

Roads should be cyclist-friendly and workers should be rewarded for cycling to and from work.
The entire economy benefits with less oil imported and less pollution generated.

Automobiles also alienate people from one another while cycling fosters interaction.

But this all assumes that we have responsible government.
Oh well, keep dreaming on... or better still, get elected!

ejclarke said:

But this all assumes that we have responsible government.
Oh well, keep dreaming on... or better still, get elected!

It's possible. Even my super conservative Southern Missouri local government has passed tax levies to upgrade infrastructure to improve cycling. I think as cycling becomes more popular, especially as an alternative to driving, you'll see better government policies and incentives. Like I said, it's a fairly easy to explain green energy program. I definitely wouldn't be surprised if somewhere like Portland or Austin started bumping up incentives in the near future.

Yes, not only does my company give incentives but they also encourage it. I guess it all depends on it the company and city. I feel like states like California you will see more innovative ways that employees are motivating their employees. Not just with communiting but with anything. I know my company had set up a health goal and see who was excising the most in the company for those who wanted to participate.

Bike commuting provides it's own incentive. It saves you money (gas and parking) and makes you fitter. If you are lucky enough to have an employer that provides an incentive then by all means take advantage! Right now in Ontario it's bike to work week too! We are trying to raise awareness at how AWSOME a bike commute can be. So this post comes at the perfect time.

Sounds like a great deal to me. If I got such an offer I would grab it with both hands. Here, where I live such offers are highly unusual. Companies here simply don't care that much about their employees. The competition is so steep that if you miss your bus to work in the morning, you better get to work with a taxi or you might just as well kiss your job goodbye.