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Despite being the country’s capital, Washington D.C. doesn’t crack the Top-20 of largest American cities by population. However, it has the second-busiest metro system in the country, supported by strong regional transit connections and new tap-to-pay technology.
Last updated: January 2026
The Washington, D.C. metropolitan region comprising the District, and neighboring areas within Virginia and Maryland are served by a wide variety of transit services that operate under the umbrella of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA), or Metro.
The core of the system is Metrorail, with six color-coded rail lines that span the region. Metro also operates the region’s Metrobus service. In addition, the adjacent counties in Virginia and Maryland operate their own bus services with connections to Metrorail stations.
The region is also served by Capital Bikeshare, the nation’s first successful bikeshare system, and one of the nation’s largest. The District as well as other counties in the region have extensive bike lanes. The District also has a bus circulator network providing local services around town. Car sharing and e-Scooter are also popular. Finally, on-demand microtransit services are provided throughout the region by Via.
Commuters are supported by strong regional transit connections and new tap-to-pay technology. Keep reading for everything you and your employees need to know to get riding.
Yes. DC employers are covered by two separate laws that impact commuter benefits that they must provide to their employees. The first, called the DC Commuter Benefits Law, became effective in 2016 and requires employers in DC to provide their employees with tax-free transit or vanpool benefits consistent with the federal commuter tax benefit law.
In 2020, DC enacted a Parking Cashout Law, which became effective in 2023 and requires employers that provide free or subsidized parking to their employees to offer an equivalent amount to those affected employees to pay for their transit or vanpool expenses if they give up their parking benefit. DC is the only city that has a parking cashout law.
The DC Commuter Benefits Law applies to all employers who:
Within those employers, the DC Commuter Benefits Law applies to both full-time and part-time employees who either:
The Parking Cashout Law applies to employers covered by the DC Commuter Benefits Law and who also offer parking benefits, a subsidy, employer-paid or free parking, to any of its employees.
The DC Commuter Benefits Law requires employers to offer their employees one of the following:
Employers must also follow noticing requirements to avoid paying fines. To ensure employees can reasonably find information about their program options, employers must:
Employers must also maintain records to show that they’re in compliance with the DC Commuter Benefits Law for a minimum of three years and be responsible for providing that documentation to the Department of Employment Services upon request.
The Parking Cashout Law requires employers to implement one of the following:
Employers who are subject to the Parking Cashout requirement must submit a report every two years to the DC Department of Transportation.
goDCgo has more information on the DC Commuter Benefits Law and the Parking Cashout Law about compliance requirements on their website.
Covered employers must offer eligible employees the opportunity to use up to $340 a month for eligible transit or vanpool expenses. Transit services that are available to employees include:
Pre-tax transit funds cannot be spent on:
Employers and their employees can take advantage of several regional incentive programs to offer commuter tax benefits for transit and vanpooling. In Maryland, employers are eligible to receive a tax credit of up to $100/employee per month for providing commuter tax benefit subsidies for transit, vanpooling, or other non-auto commuting modes. In Montgomery County, employers who subsidize their employees use of transit get reimbursed for subsidies they provide their employees over $25 up to the full $340/month. Both Fairfax and Loudon Counties in Virginia provide a $50 incentive to employees to try commuting by transit.
Employers who do not comply with the DC Commuter Benefits Law can be fined. The employer is subject to increasing monthly fines per employee for not offering them a transit or vanpool benefit. The schedule for fines is:
Employers who are subject to the Parking Cashout Law are assessed a Clean Air Compliance fee of $100/month for each employee who is offered a parking benefit and is not given the option of receiving an equivalent amount for their transit or vanpool expenses or who doesn’t have an approved transportation demand management plan.
While WMATA does not offer discount passes for employers, they do have programs to allow employers to buy bulk passes and distribute them to their employees. You can read more here.
In May 2025, Metro successfully launched a new way to pay to ride, in addition to its pre-existing SmarTrip fare card. Known locally as Tap. Ride. Go., the new fare payment system is available at all Metrorail stations and accepts a simple tap from a contactless debit or credit card (Tap. Ride. Go. will be available for use on Metrobuses and at Metro parking facilities in the future). Riders can pay by tapping a physical debit and credit cards, or a mobile card in their Apple or Google Wallet.
As an employer, Tap. Ride. Go. opens the world of possibilities for commuter benefits. Employers can work with any commuter benefit provider they choose, and load money onto their preferred commuter debit cards.
The Jawnt Pass, for example, is a commuter debit card that is optimized for use with tap-to-ride technology. With the Jawnt Pass, employers can:
Jawnt’s team of transit planners and benefit administrators are available to help you understand your options, requirements, and find a solution that will satisfy employers and employees alike. Drop us a line today to get started.
