About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

B-200323 1 (1981-04-30)

handle is hein.gao/gaobadjjb0001 and id is 1 raw text is: 0y THE COMPTROLLER GENERAL DECISION OF THE UNITED STATES 0AI WASHINGTON, D C. 20548 FILE: B-200323 DATE: April 30, 1981 MATTER OF. Rermbursement of Excess Commutation Costs During New York Transit Strike7 DIGEST: Employees of Urban Mass Transportation Administration are not eligible for reimbursement of excess cost of commnuting by private or GSA rental car over normal public transit fares, despite complete public transit shutdown during April 1980 strike. Cost of transportation to place of business is personal responsibility of employee except in limited emergency circumstances not applicable here. B-158931, May 26, 1966, and 54 Comp. Gen. 1066 (1975) distinguished. CDuring the 10-day New York City transit strike in April 1980, Federal employees who normally relied on public transit to commute to city offices were forced to find alternate means of transportation, often at a cost in excess of normal transit fares. After the strike, two employees of the Urban Mass Transportation Administration (UITA) submitted vouchers requesting reimbursement for the excess cost of commuting via privately-owned vehicle, and anotherjUMrA cormnuterLsub- mitted a voucher for the rental fees on a General Services Adminis- tration (GSA) vehicle, plus other associated costs. The certifying officer refused to certify the three vouchers, and the matter was sub- sequently referred to this Office for an advance decision. -We affirm the certifying officer's action in denying reimbursement. The settled rule is that~employees must bear the cost of transportation between their residences and official duty locations.j>- 11 Com p. Gen. 417 (1932); 15 id. 342 (1935); B-189114, February 14, 1978. .The fact that emergency-conditions necessitate additional trips or otherwise iDcrease commuting costs does not alter the employee's responsibility) 38 Lomp. Gen. 450 (1956); B-189061, March 15, 1978. Similarly, the unavailability of public transportation alone does not shift this personal obligation to the Governmentlb 19 Comp. Gen. 836 (1940); 27 id. 1 (1947); B-171969.42, January 9, 1976. These general rules clearly assign the responsibility for home-to-work transportation to the individual employee in nearly every circumstance. GTe have made exceptions to the general rule only in emergency situations where even alternate transportation was unavailable or scarce and Government operations were closed down except for a few essential personnel who were ordered to report to work. However, none of those circumstances are applicable to the 1980 transit strike or the UMTA employees claiming reimbursement .

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most