One of the exceptions is for incidental transportation - which is defined by Commission rule 34.13, as “transportation of incidental value such as transportation in the form of a ride of short duration in a personal car or taxi”. 

Past Commission staff advice is that travel within the same city is incidental, but not necessarily incidental if you travel between two cities. But remember, you still have to figure out the cost of that incidental transportation and report it under the "transportation & lodging" line on your lobby report.

To determine the amount to report, if it is a cab or Uber, use what you paid and divide by the number of people in the vehicle. If it is in your own car, use the IRS standard business mileage rate and divide by the number of people in the vehicle. The IRS announced yesterday that effective Jan. 1, 2025, the standard mileage rates for the use of a car (also vans, pickups or panel trucks) is:

• 70 cents per mile driven for business use, up 3 cents from 2024.
• 21 cents per mile driven for medical purposes, the same as in 2024.
• 21 cents per mile driven for moving purposes for qualified active-duty members of the Armed Forces, unchanged from last year.
• 14 cents per mile driven in service of charitable organizations, equal to the rate in 2024.

PAAT Note: The best advice is to avoid all transportation and lodging. Period.