For companies<I> </I>that sign up for the program, employees get automatic deductions from their paychecks to purchase the passes.

Employers also can subsidize all or part of the cost as part of an employee benefit package.

For Dawn Pennington, development specialist at the Easter Seals Society, the program has made life a little easier and using transit a little cheaper.

Now she doesn’t have to remember to walk over to the Port Authority’s Downtown service center to buy her monthly pass.

"It’s been great to look in the paycheck and there it is,’’ the Highland Park resident said.

For Pennington and others like her, there’s a convenience to reap, but also a saving.

When a company enrolls a minimum of 20 workers, staff members can use a tax-free payroll deduction to buy the passes. Because this portion is not required to be reported as taxable salary, the employee saves all federal and state income tax and Social Security tax on the price of the pass. In this sense, it operates much like a 401(k) employee retirement savings plan.

The company also benefits. It has to pay no Social Security or unemployment taxes on pretax dollars used to purchase the EZ Gold passes.

Even if the company buys the pass, the cost of the pass does not count as part of an employee’s income.

It all means this: A dozen monthly passes for Zone 1 travel, which normally cost a total of $480, will cost the rider $295.44 a year after federal and state tax deductions.

EZ Gold is prompted by the latest version of the federal Transportation and Equity Act. The legislation is a broad initiative aimed at improving road safety and protecting communities and the environment as traffic increases. It also seeks to provide efficient and flexible transportation to commuters.