Apple Computer placed 12th in the 2004 Environmental Protection Agencyis list of "Best Workplaces for Commuters", released Wednesday.

69 companies made the inaugural list by offering what the EPA called "outstanding commuter benefits to their employees at one or more work sites across the country." Companies that make the EPA list offer at least three different types of commuter benefits to 15% or more of their employees. 51% of Appleis employees are eligible for commuter benefits offered by the Mac-maker.

Among the benefits that are part of the criteria to make the list include 14% of employees not driving alone to work, an Emergency Ride home program, compressed work schedules, reduced parking costs for canpools and vanpools, and transit pass discounts. The EPA did not disclose exactly what benefits Apple or any of the companies meet to qualify for the distinction.

The top five companyis offering the most benefits were Intel, Fannie Mae, Cisco Systems, and USAA and Sun Microsystems in a tie for fifth place.

The list is based upon companies from the Fortune 500 list of U.S.-based companies. Rankings were based on the percentage of each companyies total U.S. workforce eligible for outstanding commuter benefits that meet EPAis National Standard of Excellence. The percentage was calculated by dividing the number of employees working at Best Workplaces for Commuters qualified work sites by the companyis total U.S. employment.

About 1,070 companies with a total of two million employees participate in the EPAis voluntary program.