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Smart Commute

Michigan Smart Commute / Bike Month

Bike Month: May

Bike-to-Work Week: May 17-21

Bike-to-Work Day: May 21

Michigan Smart Commute

Visit the new Michigan Smart Commute website to learn about commuting opportunities near you.

Americans have been commemorating National Bike Month in May for 54 years, thanks to advocacy groups like the League of American Bicyclists and the League of Michigan Bicyclists (LMB). Timed to coincide with the arrival of warmer weather, the event has inspired countless bike rides, safety inspections, commuter challenges, ribbon-cuttings, "share the road" promotions, and other varied celebrations of bicycling in communities across the nation.

The LMB is promoting Bike-to-Work Week from May 17-21. One of the most popular activities in Bike Month is encouraging people to bicycle to work and forsake their motor vehicles for just one day. Friday, May 21 is designated as National Bike-to-Work Day, although many communities pick other dates in the month for this particular event.

Hundreds of people in Ann Arbor, Flint, Holland, Jackson, Lansing, Manistee, Traverse City and other communities will bike, walk, carpool, take the bus to work, or telecommute during Smart Commute festivities.

Find Smart Commute and Bike to Work Month activities near you at:

www.mismartcommute.org

www.bikeleague.org

Bicycle Commuter Tax Provision

On January 1, 2009, the qualified bicycle commuting reimbursement was added to the list of qualified transportation fringe benefits covered in section 132 (f) of the Internal Revenue Service Code.

The Bicycle Commuter Act was in front of Congress for seven years, and finally passed as an inclusion to the larger Renewable Energy Tax Credit legislation in 2008. The original intent of the provision was to provide a simple, equitable solution to put cyclists on the same footing as people who receive qualified transportation benefits (QTF)'s for taking transit or driving (or parking, actually) their cars to and from work. It was intended that the bike commuting benefit would be treated the same as the other QTF's.

The total anticipated cost of the provision, estimated by the Joint Committee on Taxation, is a very modest $1 million per year, as compared to the $4.5 billion annual cost of parking and transit benefits.