Here in New York they used to have a commuter tax. It was for workers that lived in the suburbs and supposed to pay for Firemen, Police and Sanitation. It was killed in 1999.
To make up for the loss they now have an MTA (Metropolitan Transit Authority) tax. It is a .34% tax on the payroll of everyone that lives anywhere near where the MTA serves whether you use the trains to commute or not.
Philadelphia has a commuter income tax of 3.4985% on income earned in the city.
What it really is is a living in a low crime area tax.