'Fiscal cliff' law includes commuter benefit

Fare hikes set to begin this year on the CTA and Metra will be offset somewhat by a provision included in new federal “fiscal cliff’’ legislation that allows many public transit riders to shield up to $240 a month in work-related commuting costs from their taxable income, officials said Wednesday.

The change increases the public transit commuter benefit for eligible employees whose companies participate in the program from $125 a month to $240 a month. It is now on par with the $240 a month pre-tax parking benefit.

The pre-tax transit commuter benefit, which is also available to vanpool participants, can save each individual hundreds of dollars a year on trips to and from work, officials said.

In 2012, the amount of income that commuters who use mass transit were eligible to shelter from taxes to pay their fares dropped to $125 monthly from $230 a month, while the tax-free parking benefit for drivers increased by $10, to $240 monthly, as the result of a cost-of-living adjustment. The reduction in the transit benefit was due to Congress’ failure to renew the higher limit.

Under the fiscal cliff legislation that Congress passed this week, the $240 a month in pre-tax income that can be used for transit will be retroactive to Jan. 1, 2012, officials said, but the details must still be worked out. Employees of participating companies should check with their benefits provider for specific information, officials said.

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General Motors Tripled Sales Of Chevy Volt In 2012, Selling One Million Vehicles Over 30 MPG

General Motors had a record-breaking year for fuel-efficient autos in 2012. The company became the first American auto manufacturer to sell more than one million vehicles with a 30-mpg fuel rating. And due to a surge in demand from Califorina, GM tripled sales of its electric model, the Chevy Volt.

Motor Trend reported on the year end sales figures:

Chevrolet posted the biggest sales gains of any GM brand last year, with total volume up 4.3 percent year-over-year. Several models made enormous leaps in sales volume: the Sonic compact, for instance, finished December up just 4.3 percent, but a strong year helped push the car to a 415-percent overall gain compared to its first year on sale. The Chevrolet Volt, too, saw sales leap 206 percent from just 7671 units in its difficult first year on the market to a respectable 23,461 cars in 2012. Despite a significant drop to just 1293 sales last month, the Colorado small pickup posted an 18.7 percent annual sales gain. And the Equinox crossover enjoyed a 7.5-percent boost to 19,551 December sales and ended the year up 13.1 percent.

As one of the most prominent automakers getting into the electric vehicle market, GM took a lot of heat from conservative politicians, bloggers, and Fox News pundits about its Chevy Volt. The car was called “crappy” and labeled an “exploding Obamamobile” by commentators looking for an opportunity to attack President Obama’s investments in clean technologies.
Tired of the barrage of attacks, former GM Vice Chairman Bob Lutz — a Republican who once called climate change “a crock of shit” — lashed out at his fellow conservatives for spreading fear and cracking jokes about the car: “This is an unfortunate, knee-jerk reaction…Folks, it’s pure fiction. Please get it out of your heads,” Lutz said.

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