Request for Reimbursement for Travel to Airport

A certifying officer requested a decision concerning the payment of a voucher submitted by a General Services Administration (GSA) employee for mileage and parking fees incurred during temporary duty travel. The record showed that the employee traveled to San Francisco, California, to attend a training seminar. After the training seminar, the employee elected to remain over the weekend in San Francisco on personal business.The employee was driven by a friend from the latter's residence to the airport. For this trip, the employee claimed mileage and a parking fee. Since the privately owned vehicle was not owned by the employee, the agency questioned whether she may be reimbursed for round-trip mileage and the parking fee or only for the actual expenses that were paid to the driver. Initially, the voucher reviewer denied the employee's claim on the basis of a GSA internal regulation which limits reimbursement for an employee traveling as a passenger in a privately-owned vehicle that was operated by a person not traveling on Government business. GAO held that, although the GSA internal regulation reflected prior GAO decisions which limit reimbursement under such circumstances to the amount paid by the employee to the driver of the vehicle for actual expenses, that rule should not be applied to automobile travel to and from common carrier terminals. The GSA internal regulation should be construed to relate only to employees traveling to and from temporary duty stations. Accordingly, the employee's claim for mileage and parking fees may be paid to the extent that they do not exceed the cost of taxicab fare and tip.