HRDG 4080 - Transit Incentive Program - Section A

As a manager or supervisor, you are responsible for:

• Advising new employees of their responsibilities and benefits under this program.
• Ensuring all employees are treated equitably and fairly.
• Certifying their employee’s work schedule on the USDA Transit Benefit Program Enrollment/Change Application.
• Addressing any transit issues brought to your attention by MRPBS-HRD, USDA-Office of the Inspector General (OIG), Department of Transportation (DOT), and/or your local transit coordinator. This includes taking appropriate disciplinary action for program misuse, in consultation with your servicing employee relations specialist.

As an employee, you are responsible for:

• Completing the electronic transit benefit application, certifying use of qualified transit facilities or commuter highway vehicles to commute to and from work and submitting it to the designated mission area, agency, or staff office coordinator.
• Submitting a revised application when there is a change to the commuting cost or the employee’s eligibility.
• Returning unused benefits to the agency when leaving the agency or when the employee is no longer eligible. If unused fare media vouchers are not available, the employee may write a check to for the unused amount.
• Using only the authorized monthly amount in any given month and only for commuting to or from work.
• Using fare media only for commuting expenses. These do not include transportation to business meetings/conferences, training, lunch, or to/from the airport for official travel.
• Not giving or selling fare media to others, not purchasing fare media from others, or otherwise considered abusing this benefit.
• Re-certifying eligibility each fiscal year by completing a recertification application. Participants who do not recertify by the announced deadline are prohibited from receiving further benefits until they submit a new application. This may result in delayed receipt of future benefits.
• Complying with agency guidance for applying for and receiving benefits. This includes complying with any program deadlines.

As a transit coordinator, you are responsible for:

• Ensuring designated representatives (at headquarters and in the field) are trained and provided updated information as it is received.
• Implementing a process for collecting unused and partially used fare media when a participant is reassigned, transferred to another internal or external agency, retires, resigns, etc.
• Reviewing completed USDA-Transit Benefit Program Enrollment/Change Applications Public Transportation Benefit Program Applications.
• Approving the reviewed application(s) certifying completeness and employee eligibility.
• Following the guidelines in Appendix A for submission of new or changed applications.
• Reviewing monthly administrative reports posted on the USDA’s CTSB secure website to determine if any charges have been mistakenly applied and reporting errors to the Departmental Transit Program Coordinator.
• Notifying the appropriate manager and/or supervisor when an allegation of misuse and/or ineligibility is made against an employee receiving a CTSB.
• Communicating to agency participants the procedures for applying for and continuing benefits.
• Resolving customer complaints and issues in a timely fashion.