More good news for energy in the Fiscal Bluff deal

I'm not done with the energy tax breaks.  In addition to the ones I listed in Good news for food and energy in the Fiscal Bluff deal and More energy-related news in the Fiscal Bluff deal, CaHwyGuy passed along two more in Good News for Vanpoolers.

[T]here is some good news for those of us that commute via shared rides (buspools, vanpools): the commuter tax benefit has been restored. According to LA Metro:

As part of the fiscal cliff legislation adopted by the Senate and House yesterday, a provision was included that will extend (through December 31, 2013) the increase in the monthly exclusion for employer-provided transit and vanpool benefits from $125 to $240.  By increasing the monthly exclusion for transit and vanpool participants, the benefit now matches those provided for employer-provided parking benefits.

Further, according to the American Public Transportation Association:

Under the new “fiscal cliff” legislation passed by Congress this week, the parity between public transit and parking benefits are now up to $240 a month and are retroactive from January 1, 2012. This will expire on December 31, 2013.

This is a significant jump, and drastically reduces commuting costs.

LA Metro also included news about tax breaks for compressed natural gas.

Also included in the fiscal cliff legislation was a provision to extend, for one year, the CNG tax credit. In addition to being extended through December 31, 2013, the CNG tax credit language included in the final bill provides for the tax credits to be retroactive for 2012.  This benefit is worth approximately $20 million to our agency.

That's just one metropolitan transit authority, although a very large one.  Multiply that by all the rest of the agencies that run buses on compressed natural gas for the full effect.