Bike Commuter Benefit--No Indy Shops Accepting Commuter Checks Yet

So, hopefully most of you have now heard about the tax benefit for bicycle commuting tucked away in the stimulus plan. For those of you who haven't, the jist is that you can now receive $20 a month to offset costs related to bicycle commuting--new bike, spare tubes, tires, tune-ups, maybe some fenders for rainy days, etc. Sure, $20 bucks a month isn't much, but hold off complaining about not getting as big a bone as you'd have liked for a moment and listen.

First off, realize this is a payroll tax benefit, not a government payout. Basically, for riding your bike to work, they're letting you keep 20 more of your dollars that you've worked for. So, any qualms you have about government spending is null and void. This isn't government spending. It's more like a $240 a year tax cut for riding your bike.

Secondly, there are two ways in which you can receive the benefit: cash reimbursement through your company involving paper work and receipts and yadda yadda for you and your company, or Commuter Checks from Accor, which make the process for both you and your company much simpler. Most companies will likely opt for the Commuter Checks option, and as an employee trying to talk your company into adopting the tax benefit, the Commuter Checks are the more marketable option to HR and payroll.

There's just one catch. The Commuter Checks are only redeemable at participating bicycle retailers, and as of yet, there is not a single bike shop in the state of Indiana (let alone the city of Indianapolis) who accepts the Commuter Checks.

I was going to make a post of resources for readers to email their HR departments or their employers to get the ball rolling on commuter benefits at their workplaces, but I realize now the first step is to get local shops involved so we can actually make use of these Commuter Checks if/when we get our employers to issue them.

So, this is what you do:

1) Call up or go into your local bike shop (Joe's, T3 Multisport, Gray Goat, Bike Line, ICS, etc.), and tell them you'd like to spend your future Commuter Checks at their shop.

2) Ask them to call Accor Commuter Check Services at 800.531.2828 and enroll to accept the Commuter Checks.

3) Have them email me at christopher@theindycog.com and let me know their shop is accepting the Commuter Checks; I'll put them on an ongoing list of participating shops that will be accessible via a future link on a sidebar here on IndyCog.