Summary: To bolster air quality and reduce traffic congestion, federal transportation policy has tried to reduce automobile use. One approach has involved employer-provided financial incentives to encourage employees' use of public transportation. The related report, GAO/GGD-93-163, reviews participation by federal agencies and their employees in transit benefit programs. GAO evaluates (1) the extent of transit benefit program participation and the factors influencing it; (2) the effect of federal participation on employees' commuting patterns; (3) funding of federal participation in transit benefit programs; and (4) administration and management of federal participation, including management control over such assets as transit tickets and vouchers. GAO summarized this report in testimony before Congress; see: Mass Transit: Federal Participation in Transit Benefit Programs, by Kenneth M. Mead, Director of Transportation Issues, before the Subcommittee on Compensation and Employee Benefits, House Committee on Post Office and Civil Service. GAO/T-RCED-93-72, Sept. 23, 1993 (17 pages).
