The City of New York provides its employees with several commuter services to help the employees daily. Generally, these commuter services get provided and operated by Edenred Commuter Benefit Solutions. There are five popular plans available that act as commuter services for New York City employees. The details of those five programs vary by their nature.
Among those five, Access-A-Ride is undoubtedly an important one. In this plan, the employees get coupons or tickets delivered to their addresses at the very beginning of every month.
However, there is some eligibility condition required for this plan-
- What is the Access-A-Ride and Paratransit Plan?
Access-A-Ride plan is a commuter service provided to the selected few New York City employees. This plan ensures that the employees get the coupons or tickets sent to their homes. Edenred operates this whole system with excellence.
- Who is eligible for this Access-A-Ride and Paratransit Plan?
As mentioned earlier, not all the city employees could avail this plan. There is a bar of eligibility to access this plan. An employee of the New York City only becomes eligible for this when they are the receivers of paratransit service from MTA New York City Transit. The provider could be any other qualified paratransit service provider as well.
- The process of how this plan works:
An employee could avail this program by being a participant in the Access-A-Ride via Edenred system. An employee needs to open an account at the Edenred system. There, the employees need to select the coupons or tickets for paratransit service by using the funds from the Edenred account.
The accounts of the employees at the Edenred get their funds from pre-tax and post-tax payroll deductions.
- Frequently Asked Questions about this Access-A-Ride Plan:
Let’s look at the most popular and most frequently asked questions related to the Access-A-Ride paratransit plan provided by Edenred-
- How to resume the payroll deduction after suspension or cancellation?
First, the employee needs to login to the agency’s payroll portal. In case of suspension, one may change the resumption date. In case of cancellation, one needs to make the enrollment process once again.
- If someone suspends or cancels the transit order at the Edenred Commuter website, then how to resume the transit order?
An employee could follow these steps to resume their transit orders-
- Login to the Edenred account
- Go to “options’’ on the main page dashboard and select “edit order” option.
- In case of cancellation, one needs to “place an order” and follow the procedures all over again.
- There is a deadline maintained for updating the orders. So, one needs to update the orders by 10th of every month.
- How does the program work?
One funds an account with Edenred with the pre-tax and post-tax payroll deductions. Using those funds, an employee may select the coupons or tickets for Access-A-Ride or other paratransit options. Those coupons get delivered to the employees’ home at the beginning of every month.
- What are the paratransit services?
Paratransit services are dedicated to special public transportation for senior citizens and people with disabilities.
- Are there any fees required for the operation of the service of this program?
The service fees of $2.05 necessary for running the administrative body every month, get paid by the City itself.
- How does the W-2 get affected by this program?
The taxable, social security, Medicare, state and local wages get affected and reduced to be specified by the deduction from the pay for the program. On the other hand, the service cost $2.05 is paid by the City to Edenred and reflected in Box 14 as a fringe benefit. It also gets added to the taxable earnings. Due to all these reasons, the W-2 gets affected by this program.
- After enrollment, how does one get the Access-A-Ride coupons?
The coupons get delivered via mail by Edenred. So, after availing this program, the employees get the coupons and tickets delivered to their own addresses. Edenred ensures that the coupons reach the recipients before the first day of each month.
- What happens when the coupons get lost in the mail or if someone receives the wrong passes?
In case of this kind of mishap, one may call directly to Edenred and ask for assistance. Also, one must report the missing order within the first three business days of that month. Everyone should remember that the aid cannot be given or the issue cannot get sorted until the 1st of the benefit month.
- The process of signing up for this plan:
You can sign up for this program by clicking on the links given on the website of NYC. So, these are all the important details regarding the Edenred Access-A-Ride facility for New York City employees.