IUPUI Commuter Information
General Information - (For
more information, see the brochure we’ve provided.)
IUPUI is an official partner
employer of Central Indiana Commuter Services (CICS – called “kicks”). They try to promote alternatives to driving
alone. Alternatives include:
- Car pooling
- Van pooling
- Riding the bus
- Walking
- Bicycling
Why
use an alternative mode of transportation?
- It cuts down on air pollution
- It can save you money
- It can be fun to ride with others and enjoy the
conversation
- If you bike or walk, you can get more exercise
and be healthier
- It cuts down on traffic congestion
- It can decrease your stress
CICS services are for
employers and employees in the following counties:
Morgan
Hendricks
By visiting www.327ride.net our staff, faculty and
students can access:
- A car pool matching service – You decide
whether or not to call those on the list you receive
- Information about van pools
- IndyGo route and bus riding information – You
can also call 635-3344 and they can help you plan out your route.
- A commuter cost calculator - Figure out what the
real cost of driving is
CICS Emergency Ride Home (ERH) program
Faculty and staff who
regularly walk, bike, take mass transit, car pool or van pool to work and who register
with CICS qualify for CICS’s Emergency Ride Home program. Details are at www.327ride.net under the “Commuter”
section.
Upcoming Meetings about Van Pools:
There are already van pools
(basically an enlarged car pool with an outside contractor providing the van
that one of the poolers drives) from Bloomington and Cloverdale/Greencastle,
but there seems to be interest in starting another van pool from Bloomington
(leaving slightly later in the morning than the current one) and one from the
Terre Haute area. Other information
about van pools can be found by going to www.327ride.net
and clicking on “What’s New.” If
interested in van pooling, contact Ruth Reiman of Central Indiana Commuter
Services (CICS) at 327-7433. CICS is holding several van pool meetings over the
next several weeks to inform commuters about prospective/existing
vanpools. All these meetings are open to the public.
Hendricks
Morgan
Take a Ride on the Reading
The Red Line Circulator is a
FREE
bus that runs through the IUPUI campus and connects to downtown Indy. See the map I provided for a map of the
stops. The Red Line Circulator runs
every 15 minutes from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. Monday-Saturday. It also connects into the Blue Line which is
the free downtown circulator. Just think
of the possibilities now that parking is not a concern! On your lunch hour, you could:
- Pick up some chocolates at Circle Center Mall
- Go to the Wednesday farmer’s market at City
Market
- Lunch with a bunch of coworkers at a downtown
restaurant
- Visit a museum
- Meander around
- Just take a walk
- And much more
IU’s Pre-Tax Commuter Benefit
Did you realize that IU employees (not
students) who have costs associated with using mass transit or van pooling can
reduce their income taxes by using the Pre-Tax Commuter Benefit? It’s true. This does NOT pay for the
actual cost of your bus ticket, but taking advantage of this pre-tax plan DOES
save you money by lowering the amount of federal, state and local income taxes
you pay.
Here’s an illustration based on an annual
salary of $34,000. Tax savings will depend on one’s individual tax rate –
the lower the income, the lower rate of tax you’re paying so the lower the
savings, but it still can be a sizable savings.
|
|
Not Using Pre-Tax Benefit |
Using Pre-Tax Benefit |
|
|
|
|
|
Cost of bus passes for one year |
$480 |
$480 |
|
Income taxes paid on that $480 |
$167 |
$ 0 |
|
Amount you must earn to pay for bus passes |
$647 |
$480 |
|
Amount of savings |
$0 |
$167 |
So, if you make $34,000 a
year and your bus passes cost you $480 per year, you could get $167 worth of
tax savings. That would be about $41 every three months (since you file
for the reimbursement quarterly).
Every three months of the
calendar year, you can fill out the Pre-tax Mass Transit Expense Claim Form,
attach the receipts for whatever mode of mass transportation you use and send
it to University Human Resource Services;
Visit http://www.indiana.edu/~uhrs/benefits/commuting.html
and carefully read all the details, then click on the item under “Forms” in the
menu on the left to get the reimbursement form.
These mass
transit pre-tax savings are not related to the IU Tax Saver Benefit (TSB) plan.
Note: At IUPUI, if you
pay for parking by payroll deduction, the university automatically takes
that out pre-tax (which saves you money). You do not need to complete any
additional forms to make that happen.
Other Related Information
Biking
Visit the Central Indiana Bicycling Association’s Web site at www.cibaride.org
. Bicyclists offer their personal
bicycle commuting routes.
The city’s bike route map is available online by doing a search using
Indianapolis Metropolitan Planning Organization and then, when the MPO’s Web
site comes up, click on “maps” in bar at top, then choose “general maps.”
The city and state are both
working to provide more greenways, BikePorts, bike parking information and
events. Check out http://inbikeport.org/index.cfm
.
The Greenways Foundation
here in
Parking
Donald Shoup, a UCLA faculty
member and expert on parking and why alternatives to driving alone are so
important, visited
Bus Riders
The
two IUPUI Campus Card Services offices sell IndyGo passes.
IUPUI Sustainability Initiative – Transportation Subcommittee
There is a Transportation
Subcommittee that is part of the IUPUI Sustainability Initiative. It’s a fairly new group. If you are interested in attending the
Transportation Subcommittee meetings, contact Steven Jones (jonessg@iupui.edu
).
How to Keep Up on IUPUI
Commuter Information
If you would like to be kept up to date on biking, buses, car/van
pooling and the like, you might want to be on the Work/Life e-newsletter
list. To be added, contact Maggie
Stimming at mstimmin@iupui.edu. You can also contact Maggie for more copies of
the Red Line map and CICS brochures.
