NEW YORK – Across the United States, many employers are realizing the benefits of helping their employees get to and from work.

According to a recent Best Workplaces for Commuters survey, nearly 40 percent of employers are assisting commuters by increasing their transportation subsidies, enrolling in commuter tax benefit programs and signing up for employee discounts with local mass transit, reports the Associated Press.

With gas prices still more than $3 a gallon in some parts of the country, nearly 40 percent of commuters are turning to mass transit or car pooling,” writes the news source, noting that many employers are “seeing benefits to greasing the wheels of that transition.”

“We realized that to be competitive with other companies, and to help people with the rising cost of gas, we'd want to make sure we were giving an amount that was making an impact with the employee,” said Ruth Cummings, who developed a commute reimbursement program at the Portland, Oregon-based Regence Group. The AP notes that since the company raised its transportation subsidy, employee participating increased from about 1,000 employees to 1,300.

The survey notes that enrollment for pretax commuter benefits, which has been steady over the years, has significantly increased in recent months thanks to high gasoline prices.

“The gas prices have definitely been a part of it,” said Canon Business Solutions Human Resources Manager Barbara Telesford, which offers pretax commuter benefits in New York and New Jersey, noting that due to high demand, the company will allow employees in Washington, D.C., and Virginia to sign up for the benefits later this year.

Larry Filler, founder and president of pretax commuter services company TransitCenter, told the AP that easing costs associated with commuting is “getting more popular.” Later this year, TransitChek will launch a new card “to meet the needs of workers whose commutes require more than one type of transportation.”

Some employers are also providing commuters access to mass transit with their own mode of transportation. The AP notes that Children's Memorial Hospital in Chicago began a shuttle bus service to and from the nearest train station that allows employees to pay for the service by deducting the pretax costs from their paychecks.

Meanwhile, for commuters who do not receive help from their employers with transportation costs, perhaps all they need to do is ask.

Robert Cadogan, who works at the Miami public relations firm Burson-Marsteller, talked to the company’s human resources department about signing up for an employee discount program through Florida’s Tri-Rail commuter service. They company agreed, and today Cadogan has cut his monthly gasoline bill in half by taking the train to work twice a week.
 
”When we started getting into $2.75 and up, I was starting to feel a lot of pain in my wallet,” said Cadogan, adding, “If gasoline continued to increase, then yes, I'd commute by train completely.”