NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) - With gas prices over $3 a gallon in many parts of the country, companies and transit benefit providers alike say there's a boom in interest for any program that can help take the bite out of filling the tank.

"There's been a flurry of activity all of a sudden," said Mark Gorman, U.S. commute reduction manager at Intel. "It's pretty obvious it's due to increasing gas prices."

Companies say high gas prices are translating into more interest in rideshare, mass transit, and other commuter programs.

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Gorman said that in addition to participation in commuter programs that vary by site but include things like reimbursement for ridding mass transit, shuttle vans and car pool listings, he's seen an increase in pitches from outside vendors.

One of the more novel is a business concept by a young female entrepreneur, still in the development stage but under consideration by Intel (Research), that would provide luxury shuttle service from San Francisco to the company's operation in Santa Clara about an hour to the south.

Although still a little too pricey, Gorman said riders would be treated to breakfast and wireless Internet during the trip.

"They can work instead of developing a case of road rage," he said.

The programs do not come for cheap.

Sun Microsystems (Research), which said its seen a 15 percent increase in employees taking advantage of their commuter programs since gas prices turned higher, wouldn't put an exact figure on it. But officials at the company said the commuting programs can cost upwards of seven figures a year.

But Sun says it's not money wasted.

The company has found that workers who use the commuter programs actually give more back to the company.

Individuals who took advantage of mass transit, shuttle busses and carpools saved themselves about 2 hours a week commute time, said Rich Hess, head of the company's commuter program. Of those two hours, they gave back 60 percent to the company either by staying at the office longer or doing work during the commute.

But Hess said one critical component in enticing employees to use mass transit is assuring them that if need be, they can leave in a hurry. To that end, Sun provides free taxi service to participants at any time should they need to leave in an emergency.

Another way companies benefit is through tax write offs.

Programs which allow employees to set aside pre-tax dollars for transportation have the effect of reducing a firm's payroll tax, said Nathalie VanHeusden of TransitCenter, which administers benefits for 11,000 organizations and 500,000 people nationwide.

Sun has also calculated the environmental benefit.

Hess said the programs have saved 40,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide from entering the air, or what the EPA says is the equivalent of the annual emissions from 27,000 cars.

"It costs a lot of money to support this," said Hess. "But we consider it an investment in our support base and a contributor to our eco- responsibility."

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