U.S. government eliminates Eco Passes for employees at Boulder's federal labs

Beginning next year, nearly 900 federal employees in Boulder will no longer have access to a popular bus-transit program, in a move that has drawn the ire of city and congressional officials alike.

A legal interpretation handed down last month by attorneys for the U.S. Department of Commerce concludes that the Regional Transportation District's popular Eco Pass program -- which provides deep discounts to businesses or neighborhoods that purchase annual bus passes in bulk -- is a form of a "transit subsidy benefit" and cannot be distributed universally to federal workers.

The federal transit subsidy program has strict limitations on who is eligible to participate, including restrictions on how often employees may drive themselves to work without losing the benefits.

RTD guidelines for the Eco Pass program, meanwhile, require businesses that participate to make the passes available to any worker who wants one. That helps keep the cost of the passes down while encouraging new riders, officials say.

The changes affect 863 workers at the Boulder offices of the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Telecommunications and Information Administration.

NOAA campus director Don Mock said the Eco Pass program has been a popular benefit for many employees over the years.

"The type of employees we have are very environmentally aware and they appreciate the aspects of the Eco Pass program -- which really encouraged people to try the bus," he said.

He said that losing the program has been a "shock to the system for our staff," and called the Eco Pass a "tremendous deal for the government" that is simple to administer.

Of the labs' collective 863 employees, a total of 654 workers accepted Eco Passes this year, at a cost of $126,000, said Daria Serna, a spokeswoman for RTD.

She said RTD has not been notified by the Commerce Department about plans to stop purchasing Eco Passes. A spokesperson for the Department of Commerce did not return calls on Friday.

Workers at the three labs will remain eligible to apply for a monthly RTD pass through the federal transit subsidy program, but they must meet strict guidelines that require users to take the bus to work almost every day. The subsidy will provide up to $120 per month toward the price of transit -- which is not enough to cover the $176 monthly price tag of a regional RTD pass for people who commute from Denver to Boulder.

John Augustine, a longtime meteorologist based at the Boulder NOAA office, said that he's already applied for whatever subsidy he can get. But he remains concerned about others who either don't qualify or won't follow through with the paperwork.

He said he's also concerned because the federal complex was intentionally constructed with a fewer number of parking spaces than employees.

"If this impacts a lot of people where they don't follow through and begin driving, we're going to have a huge problem and it's going to start affecting the surrounding neighborhoods," he said.

Jim Burrus, the public information and outreach coordinator at the Boulder NIST office, said he rides the bus from Longmont to Boulder up to four times a week and uses his Eco Pass "extensively."

"If it's taken away and not replaced, it will cost me literally thousands of dollars a year in extra gas, oil, maintenance and brain damage, not to mention parking," he said, adding that parking is not a reimbursed expense at the lab. "Sitting in traffic sucks if you're not on a bus."

Officials with the city of Boulder also expressed concerns.

"We are dismayed at the guidance from the federal level," said Martha Roskowski, program manager for Go Boulder.

She said the decision to eliminate Eco Passes from the federal labs "doesn't make any sense at all" from a financial perspective.

Records with RTD and NOAA show that the Department of Commerce spent $146 per Boulder employee last year to purchase Eco Passes. Under the federal transit subsidy program, the government could end up paying up to $1,440 per employee for the same level of service.

"The Eco Pass program is a really cost-effective way to provide transit services," Roskowski said. "It also encourages new people to try transit."

U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, D-Boulder, highlighted those same points in a Sept. 28 letter to Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke.

"The city of Boulder and I share serious concerns about this decision as the transit benefits currently being provided at the Boulder campus are extremely cost-effective and very important for both employees and the city in its goal and need to increase transit ridership," Polis wrote.

The congressman went on to say that the decision to do away with Eco Passes "would seem likely to lead to an unnecessary greater expense of taxpayer dollars."

Transportation officials have agreed to work on behalf of the three Boulder labs to determine whether continued participation in the Eco Pass program is in the government's best interest, according to an internal memo sent to all NIST employees late last month.

But even if the decision were made to continue purchasing Eco Passes, only workers who qualify for the broader federal transit subsidy would be eligible, according to the memo.

In the meantime, workers are being encouraged to continue to ride the bus.

"While we appreciate that this will be a significant change, we hope you will consider using mass transit and apply for the transit benefit," the memo reads.