Metropass enrollment accelerates

Transit program offers benefits to employers and commuters

Participation in the Metropolitan Council’s innovative “Metropass” transit program surged in 2005. Since its launch in 1998, the program has experienced steady but modest growth. Then last year, enrollment shot up 35 percent – most of it in the last six months of the year.

Metropass is the region’s premier transit commuter program. It provides card holders with unlimited rides on light-rail trains and buses across the region, 24/7, weekdays and weekends.

To date the program has enrolled 135 businesses, government agencies and nonprofit organizations with a total of 111,300 commuters. A typical Metropass rider can save 20-40 percent off normal transit fares, and companies enjoy numerous benefits, too.

“Metropass really began taking off last summer when transit fares and gas prices jumped up,” said Suzan Forsberg, who markets the program for Metro Transit, a division of the Council.

“People really love it when Metropass becomes available to them. It’s a great benefit, just like life and health insurance. One person told me it seems too good to be true. It really works,” she said.

Employers and employees both benefit

A Metro Transit police officer on light-rail transit checks a rider’s Metropass card. The check ensures that the customer has touched the card to an automated fare reader. The Metropass card allows holders to ride buses or rail anytime without paying cash fare.

Organizations that enroll in Metropass contract with Metro Transit for a period of two years. The cost of the contract is based on the current transit use of the organization’s employees. The company or agency offers the passes to employees, sometimes at a substantial discount. Participation is voluntary. In downtown Minneapolis and St. Paul, about 30 percent of eligible employees sign up. Companies and employees both are winners in the deal.

Employer benefits:

Enhanced benefits package attracts potential employees.
Employees get to work on time under less stress.
Tax-savings if the employer subsidizes any of the cost for employees.
Employees use pre-tax dollars and further reduce payroll taxes.
Shows environmental commitment.

Employee benefits:

Reduced transit fares.
Unlimited 24/7 service on rail and buses.
Save on car maintenance, gas and parking costs.
Less commuter stress.
Shows environmental commitment.

The program isn’t just for large companies. U.S. Bank began offering Metropass to its 7,800 employees this month, but some participating companies have well under 100 employees.

Public benefits from increased transit use

The general public experiences benefits as well. More transit riders means less commuter traffic, less lost productivity due to congestion, less pollution from single passenger vehicles and lower gas consumption.

More riders also will help the Council achieve its long-term goal of doubling transit ridership by 2030, slowing the growth of congestion, protecting the environment, and further developing a stable base on which to plan future transit services.

“It’s a win-win for everybody,” Forsberg said. “Employers often begin with a skeptical eye, but soon they understand how it benefits their company as well as their employees. Senior managers become heroes because their employees are truly grateful for this benefit.”