Public Transportation for Hire

Public Transportation for Hire

Public Transportation travel includes:

• Rental Car (See Car Rentals for details)
• Plane (See Air and Rail for details)
• Train (See Air and Rail for details)
• Bus
• Taxi, Shuttle, or other “for hire transportation”

If a UMW Card (SPCC or UMW Finance Card) is used OR if reimbursement for public transportation is needed, all regulations apply, such as documenting the purpose and a 15% maximum tip. Use Emburse Enterprise for reimbursement of items not on a UMW Card.

IMPORTANT NOTES

• The necessity of the “for hire transportation” must be identified on the reimbursement request.
• Public transportation rates must not exceed those for tourist, coach, or economy class accommodations.
• Receipts for “for hire transportation” expenses must be submitted. Exception: “For hire transportation” expenses less than $35 per instance may be claimed without a receipt.  Specific details regarding the service must be provided in the comments section in Emburse Enterprise.
• A maximum tip of 15% of the taxi/shuttle/bus service FARE is reimbursable as a transportation cost. In addition, during overnight travel, a 15% maximum tip is allowed on a taxi or shuttle service (see bullet point below for details about transportation to take meals while on overnight travel).  The 15% tip for public transportation is completely separate from the Incidentals portion of the per diem. (See Per Diem for explanation regarding Meals and Incidental Expenses.) For reimbursement show fare and tip on appropriate lines in Emburse Enterprise, and Emburse Enterprise will calculate the percentage (and will not allow a claim of over 15%).
  • When a UMW card (SPCC or UMW Finance Card) is used to pay for a shuttle, for example, a 15% tip is allowed on the card.
  • When a UMW card was used to pay for a shuttle, for example, AND a tip is provided by the traveler, use the FARE field in Emburse Enterprise to enter the tip that needs to be reimbursed and use the Comments section to explain. Upload the receipt from the shuttle payment for documentation of the amount on the UMW card in order to verify a maximum 15% tip. If some form of documentation of the tip amount is not uploaded in Emburse Enterprise, use the Comments section to explain.
• Public transportation from place of lodging to take meals is allowed only for official business needs.  In this instance, the definition of “official business needs” is going to an official Business Meal that is defined at Business Meals. (To be clear, transportation is included in the I&E portion of the per diem when taking transportation for NON official Business Meals on overnight business travel.)