Hi Andrew, thank you for your question. The Lab offers a commuter flexible spending account (FSA) benefits program and will transition from its current vendor, WageWork/Health Equity, to a new vendor, Sterling, in the first quarter of 2026. Keep an eye out for upcoming communications for guidance and timelines. For more information on public transit, visit https://commute.lbl.gov/service/public-transit/.
Thank you for the response. A FSA is better than nothing, but that’s a lot of paperwork for minimal benefit, and like an HSA falls prey to the need to do careful pre-planning in advance of need that may not pan out in the end. I would be MUCH more interested in the laboratory offering these next Gen Clipper cards or other transit passes directly to employees that you are able to negotiate a discount for by your institutional buying power.
Hi Andrew, thank you for sharing your thoughts. Currently, the Lab’s commuter benefit program is the only transportation benefit we can provide using federally allocated funds. We remain committed to supporting the transportation needs of everyone at the Lab and will continue to explore other opportunities as they arise.
The next-generation Clipper card mentioned in the story is available to the general public and offers more convenient payment options and inter-agency transfer discounts. For more information on using the new Clipper system, please refer to this brochure: https://docs.clippercard.com/brochures/en/Clipper_InsidersGuide_121025_EN.pdf.
For other questions, comments, or to provide further feedback, please send an email to commute@lbl.gov.
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Does the laboratory offer any transit benefits/discounts as part of our compensation package?
Hi Andrew, thank you for your question. The Lab offers a commuter flexible spending account (FSA) benefits program and will transition from its current vendor, WageWork/Health Equity, to a new vendor, Sterling, in the first quarter of 2026. Keep an eye out for upcoming communications for guidance and timelines. For more information on public transit, visit https://commute.lbl.gov/service/public-transit/.
Thank you for the response. A FSA is better than nothing, but that’s a lot of paperwork for minimal benefit, and like an HSA falls prey to the need to do careful pre-planning in advance of need that may not pan out in the end. I would be MUCH more interested in the laboratory offering these next Gen Clipper cards or other transit passes directly to employees that you are able to negotiate a discount for by your institutional buying power.
Hi Andrew, thank you for sharing your thoughts. Currently, the Lab’s commuter benefit program is the only transportation benefit we can provide using federally allocated funds. We remain committed to supporting the transportation needs of everyone at the Lab and will continue to explore other opportunities as they arise.
The next-generation Clipper card mentioned in the story is available to the general public and offers more convenient payment options and inter-agency transfer discounts. For more information on using the new Clipper system, please refer to this brochure: https://docs.clippercard.com/brochures/en/Clipper_InsidersGuide_121025_EN.pdf.
For other questions, comments, or to provide further feedback, please send an email to commute@lbl.gov.