HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3942        FILED ON: 1/18/2019

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1041

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Adrian C. Madaro

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act to encourage shared rides to and from Logan Airport.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3942        FILED ON: 1/18/2019

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 1041

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)

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An Act to encourage shared rides to and from Logan Airport.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

SECTION 1. Chapter 187 of the Acts of 2016 is hereby amended by striking Section 11 and replacing with the following section:

Section 11.  The Massachusetts Port Authority, established in section 2 of chapter 465 of the acts of 1956, may not permit a transportation network vehicle that is not registered as a livery vehicle to accept a prearranged ride through a digital network at the General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport terminal until such time as the authority promulgates rules for the operation of transportation network vehicles, consistent with federal regulations, to ensure the safety of passengers and effective operation of transportation services to and from the airport.  Any transportation network company that offers pooled rides shall offer transportation network riders the option of requesting a pooled ride from General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport.

SECTION 2. Chapter 187 of the Acts of 2016 is hereby amended by adding the following section:

Section 19.  (a) There shall be a Logan Airport Congestion Mitigation Fund. The Massachusetts Port Authority shall be the trustee of the fund and shall expend money in the fund to address the impact of transportation network services on East Boston. There shall be credited to the fund any assessment collected pursuant to subsection (b). Amounts credited to the fund shall be expended by the Authority pursuant to subsection (c) without further appropriation.

(b) Annually, not later than February 1, each transportation network company shall submit to the Massachusetts Port Authority an assessment of $3.00 multiplied by the number of rides from the previous calendar year in the following categories: (i) the transportation network vehicle provided a ride originating at the General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport, and completed a ride no more than one hour prior to the ride, and, with no transportation network rider in the vehicle, arrived at the Airport; and (ii) the transportation network vehicle provided a ride ending at the General Edward Logan International Airport, and completed a ride no more than one hour following the completion of the ride, and, exited the Airport with no transportation network rider in the vehicle. Not later than June 30, the Massachusetts Port Authority shall post on the Authority’s website the aggregate number of rides from the previous calendar year pursuant to this subsection.

(c) The Massachusetts Port Authority shall distribute the contents of the fund to the city of Boston within 60 days of receiving funds. The City of Boston shall use the proceeds from the fund to address congestion in East Boston, including the impact of transportation network services, or any other public purpose substantially related to the operation of transportation network services in East Boston including, but not limited to, the complete streets program established in section 1 of Chapter 90I of the General laws and other programs that support alternative modes of transportation.

(d)  Annually, the City of Boston shall submit a report to the Massachusetts Port Authority not later than December 31 detailing the projects and the amount used or planned to be used for transportation-related projects as described in subsection (c). The Massachusetts Port Authority shall post the projects and amounts of money used on the website of the Authority.

SECTION 3. Section 1 of Chapter 159A½ of the General Laws as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition is amended by adding the following definition:

“Pooled Ride” – A for-hire ride that is available for the shared provision of transportation by two or more passengers (or groups of passengers) that separately request transportation and (I) are each charged the same predetermined amount per ride, or (II) are each billed independently for a ride in an amount that is proportionate to the transportation they receive.