Commuting to and from work isn’t just time-consuming. It can also take up a significant portion of one’s income. In the segment “Public Transportation as an Employee Benefit” at Persontrafik, the president of the Vision union, Skånetrafiken, and Resenärerna highlight how subsidized commuter passes can benefit employees, employers, and society as a whole.
Within the Vision labor union, subsidized commuter passes are a popular benefit among its 222,000 members.
– As the cost of living rises, how people get to work becomes an important issue. Most of our members spend a significant portion of their income on commuting, which is why there is great interest in discounted public transportation passes,” says Vision Union President Veronica Magnusson, who kicks off the session on public transportation as an employee benefit.
– Our members also want to do their part to help the climate, and depending on how public transportation works, they can use their commute time to work or to relax. So there are several interrelated factors that make the issue of discount cards an interesting one.
In Skåne, companies have been able to offer commuting as an employee benefit for several years now. The program is called Företag Komplett and provides companies with discounts on commuter passes and on-board advertising with Skånetrafiken. According to Skånetrafiken, which will be presenting the initiative, it’s a way to increase employee satisfaction, reduce the number of parking spaces, and demonstrate a commitment to sustainability.
“This is in line with the goal of enabling more people to use public transportation. Many people also appreciate it when their employers are actively committed to sustainability,” says Veronica Magnusson.
Karin Svensson Smith, president of the advocacy group Resenärerna, also appears on the program. She explains that offering public transportation as an employee benefit kills two birds with one stone.
“On the one hand, it expands the customer base for public transportation providers, and on the other, it makes things easier for those who must be physically present at work and cannot work from home. They often have lower incomes, so this achieves something that is both climate-friendly and socially sustainable,” says Karin Svensson Smith.
Text: Paula Isaksson
At Persontrafik, Karin Svensson Smith from Resenärerna, Veronica Magnusson from Vision, and Niklas Sandgren from Skånetrafiken will speak at the Persontrafik conference in the seminar “Public Transportation as an Employee Benefit.”