Mark Kirk: “As gas prices rise, an effective way to offer relief is to provide incentives for commuter rail. Commuter rail saves…”

“As gas prices rise, an effective way to offer relief is to provide incentives for commuter rail. Commuter rail saves America 4 million gallons of gas a day and saves each individual commuter over $1,600 a year. Next week, the Speaker will bring up legislation that will offer only Federal employees transit benefits. I support expanding the current Federal transit program, and believe that all Americans should have the opportunity to have this relief at the pumps. A month ago, I introduced bipartisan legislation, the Creating Opportunities to Motivate Mass-transit Utilization To Encourage Ridership, or the COMMUTER Act of 2008. Our legislation offers employers a 50 percent tax credit if they provide transit benefits to their employees. According to Forbes Magazine, the average gasoline cost in the 10 worst commuter cities is over $6 a day. Should businesses take advantage of this, we would lower our gas bills, but it should be offered to more than people with a Federal job.”