Van Pools Blog

Jeff Henning, President of VPSI, offered the following statement regarding introduction of ‘Green Routes to Work’ legislation by Congressman Earl Blumenauer:

‘I want to thank Congressman Blumenauer and offer my full support for ‘Green Routes to Work’; this legislation will help get people out of their cars and into alternative forms of transportation. I am very pleased to see that this legislation includes a provision that would reinstate the vanpool investment tax.

Under the Federal Energy Tax Act of 1978, a 10 percent investment tax credit was approved for employers who established vanpools. From 1975 to 1985, over 24,000 commuter vanpools were placed into service. Large employers, e.g. 3M, Conoco, Texaco, Pennzoil, Arco, Hartford Insurance, Schering Plough, Boeing, Aramco, Arizona Public Service, TVA, Chrysler, Cargill, Northrop, Shell, Ford, and McDonnell Douglas, acquired fleets of vans to transport their employees to and from work.

The vanpool investment tax credit expired in 1986 and was not extended. Since its expiration, the number of vanpools nationwide has decreased to half the size of its peak, however, recent spikes in gas prices have caused a rapid growth in demand for vanpool services illustrating that American workers are willing to use alternative forms of transportation if the pricing threshold is right.

What is most important to recognize is that vanpools use 9-15 passenger vehicles which are only manufactured by domestic automakers. If Congress were to reinstate this provision included in ‘Green Routes to Work’ the investment tax credit would provide assistance to the automakers, not through a hand out, but from a work order, generating revenue of $880 million over the next 4 years.

A 10% vanpool investment tax credit is also three times more cost effective at reducing CO2 emissions then the current tax credit for the purchase of hybrid vehicles. Vanpools reduce peak hour vehicle miles traveled by a factor of 10, reducing traffic congestion and improving air quality.

The investment tax credit included in ‘Green Routes to Work’ will create jobs, assist the automakers, conserve fuel, and fight global warming. For these reasons, we are hopeful that Congress will take action on Green Routes to Work as soon as possible.’

Tags: CO2 emissions, Congressman, Earl Blumenauer, expired, Federal Energy Tax Act of 1978, Green Routes to Work, Jeff Henning, president, vanpool investment tax

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 9th, 2009 at 12:03 pm and is filed under Green Employee Benefits, Interviews and Experts, Sustainable Transportation. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.