TRANServe Participants

Transit Benefits During a Lapse in Appropriation

In 2019, the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) determined that during a lapse in appropriations, agencies, programs, or activities affected by the lapse may not “except” obligations of lapsed amounts for employee transit benefits. However, funded agencies, or those operating on partial carryover or other available funds, may continue to obligate available amounts for transit benefits.

Employees who are furloughed should not use transit benefits for the duration of a shutdown. Agencies are responsible for including this information in their furlough guidance to employees.

We have prepared a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to provide additional clarity:

Q1: How does the government shutdown affect employee transit benefits?
A1: Funding for employee transit benefits comes from the appropriations of the employee’s agency. If the employee’s agency experiences a lapse in appropriations, the employee’s transit benefits will not be funded and will be unavailable. The employee will therefore experience a lapse in benefits.

Q2: If I am furloughed, will I be able to use my transit benefits when the shutdown ends and I return to work?
A2: If an agency’s transit benefits are unavailable during a government shutdown, they will not be available immediately upon employees’ return to work. Agency coordinators or the shared services provider will need to work with agency Program Coordinators to restore employee transit benefits as soon as possible.

Q3: If my agency is funded with annual appropriations and is shut down, but I am identified as an Excepted employee and required to work, will I be reimbursed for out-of-pocket transit benefit expenses for commuting once an appropriation is received?
A3: If funds are unavailable to provide a transit benefit during a lapse in government funding, you may be eligible to file a reimbursable claim using Standard Form (SF) 1164 through your agency Transit Benefit POC. Contact your agency POC for filing instructions.

Q4: What are the recommended procedures an agency should use to reimburse employee transit benefit claims not received during a lapse in government funding?
A4: Your agency may have an option to reimburse employees on an individual basis using a Claim for Reimbursement for Expenditures on Official Business (SF 1164).

• The expenditures in Block 6 of the SF 1164 should be itemized using Code C (Other Expenses).
• Details of the expenditures should be maintained by the participants.

The SF 1164 must be completed and authorized per your agency’s policies and procedures, then submitted to your approving offices for processing. Service providers are not authorized to process this reimbursement on behalf of your agency.

Q5: What effect does withdrawing agency employees from the WMATA system have on employees’ ability to access their transit benefits?
A5: WMATA can only suspend an entire agency, not individual employees. Removing or reinstating individual access is time-consuming, as each record must be updated manually. Suspending benefits may delay employees’ ability to access them on their first day back.

Important Updates:

• TSB 2025-02 Non-DOT Transit Benefit Increase to $325
• Non-DOT 2024 Transit Benefit Customer Conference
• TSB 2024-03 Non-DOT Transit Benefit Increase to $315

National Capital Region Commuting Information

• TSB 2024-03 Non-DOT Transit Benefit Increase to $315

Federal employees committed to using mass transportation for their home-to-work-to-home commute are eligible to receive the federal transit benefit.

TRANServe supports you with simplified access to transit authority information, electronic applications, how-to instructions and other resources that encourage your use of mass transportation as your primary means of commuting from home to work. The transit benefit is a subsidy, not an entitlement. Simply stated, it can go away.

Protect your transit benefit by following a few basic rules:

• Apply using your Agency's established application process
• Spend the transit benefit to make a direct purchase through your transit authority
• Ride mass transportation for the bulk of your own home to work to home commute
• Comply with your Agency's Transit Benefit Program Policy

Always Protect Your Transit Benefit - Any month the amount you receive exceeds the amount you use, you must return the excess funds to your Agency!

Report Waste, Fraud and Abuse to your Agency Point of Contact or Inspector General Hotline